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How is the electrostatic force affected when the magnitude of a charge is doubled?

The magnitude of the electrostatic force doubles
The magnitude of the electrostatic force will decrease by one half.
The magnitude of the electrostatic force will be quadrupled.
The magnitude of the electrostatic force will be reduced to 1/4 of the original magnitude.

User Avadhesh
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2 Answers

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Final answer:

The electrostatic force between two charges is directly proportional to the magnitude of the charges. If the magnitude of a charge is doubled, the electrostatic force will also double.

Step-by-step explanation:

The electrostatic force between two charges is affected by the magnitude of the charges and the distance between them. According to Coulomb's law, the force is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

If the magnitude of a charge is doubled while keeping the other charge unchanged, the electrostatic force will also double. This is because the force is directly proportional to the charge.

Therefore, the correct answer is: The magnitude of the electrostatic force doubles.

User Samu Lang
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The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charges is given by:

F=k_e (q_1 q_2)/(r^2)
where
ke is the Coulomb's constant
q1 and q2 are the two charges
r is the separation between the two charges

We can see that the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the charges. This means that when one of the charges is doubled, the magnitude of the electrostatic force will double as well, so the correct answer is
A) The magnitude of the electrostatic force doubles
User Helm
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