A charge of 3.75 10-9 C is located 3.1 m from a charge of -3.10 10-9 C. Find the magnitude of the electrostatic force exerted by one charge on the other.
a)increases
or
b)decreases
or
c)remains the same
You have not said if the separation of the charges is changing. The choices offered do not answer the question.
I believe you copied the problem's choices incorrectly.
In any case, use Coulomb's to determine the magnitude of the electrostatic force
To find the magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charges, you can use Coulomb's Law, which states that the electrostatic force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges 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 magnitude of the electrostatic force
- k is the electrostatic constant (9.0 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2)
- q1 and q2 are the charges of the two objects
- r is the distance between the two charges
In this case, we have:
- q1 = 3.75 x 10^-9 C (positive charge)
- q2 = -3.10 x 10^-9 C (negative charge)
- r = 3.1 m
Plugging these values into the formula, we get:
F = (9.0 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * |(3.75 x 10^-9 C) * (-3.10 x 10^-9 C)| / (3.1 m)^2
Now, calculate the magnitude of F using the given values:
F ≈ 9.48 x 10^-8 N
Therefore, the magnitude of the electrostatic force exerted by one charge on the other is approximately 9.48 x 10^-8 N.
Now, to answer your question: as the distance between the charges remains the same (3.1 m) while the charges themselves (q1 and q2) also remain constant, the magnitude of the electrostatic force between the charges remains the same. Therefore, the correct answer is c) remains the same.