How would the electrostatic force change if Coulomb's law included a negative sign?

It would depend on the magnitude of the charges.

Like charges would attract, and opposite charges would repel.***

It would not make a difference in the electrostatic force.

Like charges would repel, and opposite charges would attract.

Like charges would repel, and opposite charges would attract.

To determine how the electrostatic force would change if Coulomb's law included a negative sign, we need to understand the original equation for Coulomb's law:

F = k * (Q1 * Q2) / r^2

Where:
F is the electrostatic force between two charges,
k is the electrostatic constant,
Q1 and Q2 are the magnitudes of the charges,
and r is the distance between the charges.

If Coulomb's law included a negative sign, the equation would become:

F = -k * (Q1 * Q2) / r^2

Now, let's consider different scenarios and how the force would change:

1. Like charges (Q1 and Q2 have the same sign):
In the original equation, like charges repel each other because the force is positive.
With the negative sign, the electrostatic force would be negative, indicating that like charges now attract each other. So, if Coulomb's law included a negative sign, like charges would attract.

2. Opposite charges (Q1 and Q2 have opposite signs):
In the original equation, opposite charges attract each other because the force is negative.
With the negative sign in the modified equation, the electrostatic force would be positive, indicating that opposite charges now repel each other. So, if Coulomb's law included a negative sign, opposite charges would repel.

If Coulomb's law included a negative sign, it would reverse the behavior of the electrostatic force between like and opposite charges. Like charges would attract, and opposite charges would repel.

I agree.