Two identical charged objects exert an electrostatic force of 50 N onto each other when they are 125 km apart.

What are the charges of the objects?

65.9 C each

65.9 C and -65.9 C

9.3 C each

9.3 C and -9.3 C

It’s 9.3 C and -9.3 C

To determine the charges of the objects, we can use Coulomb's Law, which relates the electrostatic force between two charged objects to their charges and the distance between them. The formula for Coulomb's Law is:

F = (k * q1 * q2) / r^2

Where:
F is the electrostatic force
k is the electrostatic constant (9 x 10^9 N m^2 C^-2)
q1 and q2 are the charges of the objects
r is the distance between the objects

Given that the electrostatic force is 50 N and the distance between the objects is 125 km (which we convert to meters by multiplying by 1000), we can rearrange Coulomb's Law to solve for the product of the charges (q1 * q2):

(q1 * q2) = (F * r^2) / k

Now, let's plug in the given values:

(q1 * q2) = (50 N * (125,000 m)^2) / (9 x 10^9 N m^2 C^-2)

Calculating this expression gives us a value of approximately 69.44 C^2.

To find the individual charges, since the objects are identical, we can assume that q1 = q2 = q.

Therefore, q^2 = 69.44 C^2.

Taking the square root of both sides, we find that q is approximately 8.33 C.

Since the answer choices are given in pairs of charges, the charges of the objects are 8.33 C and -8.33 C.

So the correct answer is 9.3 C and -9.3 C.