A negative charge of -2.0 E -6 C and a positive charge of 3.0 E -6 C are separated by 2m. What is the force between the two charges
F = k q1 * q2 / r^2
Now just plug in your numbers.
q1=6 microCoulomb, q2= -5 microCoulomb r= 2cm F=?
To calculate the force between two charges, we can use Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of their magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
The formula for Coulomb's Law is:
F = k * |q1 * q2| / r^2
Where:
- F is the force between the charges,
- k is the electrostatic constant (k ≈ 9 × 10^9 N m^2/C^2)
- q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges,
- r is the distance between the charges.
In this case, q1 = -2.0 × 10^(-6) C (negative charge) and q2 = 3.0 × 10^(-6) C (positive charge), and r = 2 m.
Plugging these values into the formula, we have:
F = (9 × 10^9 N m^2/C^2) * (|-2.0 × 10^(-6) * 3.0 × 10^(-6)|) / (2^2)
Simplifying, we get:
F = (9 × 10^9) * (2.0 × 10^(-6)) * (3.0 × 10^(-6)) / 4
Now, multiply the numbers, and don't forget to take the absolute value of the product:
F = (9 × 2.0 × 3.0 × 10^(3*(-6) + (-6))) / 4
F = (54 × 10^(-12)) / 4
F = 13.5 × 10^(-12)
Since 10^(-12) is equivalent to 1 picometer (pN), the force between the two charges is:
F = 13.5 pN.