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Two identical charges q₁ and q₂, are separated by a distance, r. If r is tripled, what happens to the electrical force between them?

User G Shah
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Final answer:

When the distance between two identical charges is tripled, according to Coulomb's Law, the electrical force between them decreases to one-ninth of its original value.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the concept of electrostatic force as described by Coulomb's Law, which states that the electrical force between two point charges is proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Mathematically, it's expressed as F = k * (q1 * q2) / r², where F is the electrical force, q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges, r is the distance between the charges, and k is the Coulomb's constant.

When the distance r is tripled, the new force F' can be found using the same formula, substituting r with 3r: F' = k * (q1 * q2) / (3r)². Simplifying this yields F' = F / 3², which shows that the electrical force is reduced by a factor of 9 when the distance is tripled.

Therefore, if two identical charges q1 and q2 are separated by a distance r and that distance is tripled, the electrical force between them will decrease to one-ninth of the original force, assuming all other factors remain constant.

User MichaelThePotato
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