Question

Two charged particles are attracted to each other with a force of 7.6 newtons. What will happen if the distance between them shrinks to one third of what it started at?

Answer 1

The complete equation is as follows:

Force between two charge particles = k * Q1 * Q2 / r^2,

where k is constant, Q1 is charge on 1 particle, Q2 is charge on the other particle and r is the distance between the particles.

From the equation, if the distance between them shrinks to one third of what it started at, then the force will be 1/(1/3)^2 = 9 times larger.

It will become 7.6*9 = 68.4 Newtons.

Answer 2

Coulomb’s Law states the force bet. 2 charged particles is inversely proportional to square of their separation.

if the distance between them shrinks to one third, the force will increase by 3-squared=9x.

so the force = 9x7.6 = 68.4N