Final answer:
Decreasing the distance between two charged objects results in an increased force between them, as described by Coulomb's law, which states the force is inversely proportional to the square of their separation distance.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the distance between two charged objects is decreased, according to Coulomb's law, the force between them increases. This law states that the electrostatic force between two charges is inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating the two charges. As an illustrative example, if the separation between two point charges is reduced by a factor of 5, implying that originally if they were each 5 meters apart and now they are 1 meter apart, the force between them would increase by a factor of 25 (since 5 squared is 25). Specifically, considering the scenarios provided, if two point charges exerted a 5.00 N force on each other and then the distance between them was increased by a factor of three, the force would become 1/9 of the original force (since 3 squared is 9). Conversely, if the separation was decreased by some factor and resulted in the force increasing by a factor of 25, we determine the separation distance was decreased by a factor of 5 (since the square root of 25 is 5).