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Two 1.21 kg masses are 4.22 m apart on a frictionless table. Each has 22.78 microCoulombs of charge. What is the initial acceleration of each mass if they are released and allowed to move?

User Eprovst
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1 Answer

4 votes

First, let's calculate the electric force, using the formula below:


\begin{gathered} F_e=(KQq)/(d^2)\\ \\ F_e=(9\cdot10^9\cdot(22.78\cdot10^(-6))^2)/(4.22^2)\\ \\ F_e=262.26\cdot10^(-3)=0.26226\text{ N} \end{gathered}

Now, let's use the second law of Newton to find the acceleration:


\begin{gathered} F=m\cdot a\\ \\ 0.26226=1.21\cdot a\\ \\ a=(0.26226)/(1.21)\\ \\ a=0.217\text{ m/s^^b2} \end{gathered}

User Andrey Pokrovskiy
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