Two very small spheres are initially neutral and separated by a distance of 0.50 m. Suppose that 2.50 x 10^13 electrons are removed from one sphere and placed on the other. What is the magnitude of the electrostatic force that acts on each sphere?

So in solving the answer it would be F=(8.99E9)*(2.5E13*1.6E-19)*(2.5E13*1.6E-19)/.50^2? If so, I don't think I did it right. I ended up with an answer of .57536

Isnt one of the values you multiplied the 2.5E13 by has to be negative? For an electron, its -1.602 x 10^-19, while for a proton its 1.602 x 10^-19. Is this by any chance IB Physics?

To find the magnitude of the electrostatic force acting on each sphere, we can use Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the electrostatic force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of their 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 electrostatic force
k is Coulomb's constant (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2)
|q1| and |q2| are the magnitudes of the charges on the two spheres
r is the distance between the two spheres

In this case, one sphere lost 2.50 x 10^13 electrons, so the charge on it will be negative. The other sphere gained the same number of electrons, so the charge on it will be positive. The magnitude of the charge on each sphere can be calculated by multiplying the number of electrons by the electron charge, which is 1.6 x 10^-19 C.

Magnitude of charge on each sphere = (2.50 x 10^13) * (1.6 x 10^-19) C

Next, we substitute the values into the formula for Coulomb's Law:

F = (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (|q1| * |q2|) / r^2

F = (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * [(2.50 x 10^13) * (1.6 x 10^-19) C]^2 / (0.50 m)^2

Now we can calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force by solving this equation.

F=kQ1Q2/.50^2

for Q1, Q2 the amount of charge in coulomb is 2.50E12*1.6E-19coul/elelctron