Final answer:
The force between two metal spheres after one charged sphere is touched to a neutral sphere can be calculated using Coulomb's Law, which takes into account the now equal charges of both spheres and the distance between them.
Step-by-step explanation:
Calculating the Force Between Two Metal Spheres
To calculate the force between two metal spheres, we apply Coulomb's Law, which is F = k * |q1 * q2| / r^2, where F is the force between the charges, k is the Coulomb's constant (8.987 x 10^9 N m^2/C^2), q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges, and r is the distance between the centers of the two charges. In the case where one of the spheres is initially neutral and it is touched by a charged sphere, the charge is shared equally between the two spheres. Assuming the charged sphere had an initial charge Q, after touching, each sphere has a charge of Q/2. The distance between the centers of the spheres is given as 20 cm (0.2 m). Substituting the known values, we would solve for the force