Question

Which of the following changes would double the force between two charged particles?

A. Doubling the amount of charge on each particle
B. Increasing the distance between the particles by a factor of 2
C. Decreasing the distance between the particles by a factor of 2
D. Doubling the amount of charge on one of the particles

Answer 1

D. Doubling the amount of charge on one of the particles

Explanation:

Force between charged particles:

The force between two charged particles is given by:

`F = (kq_1q_2)/(r^2)`

In which k is the coulomb constant,
`q_1` and
`q_2` are the charges and r is the distance between them.

Which of the following changes would double the force between two charged particles?

Doubling the amount of force on both particles quadriplies, as does decreasing the distance between the particles by a factor of 2(we would have a division by 1/4 which is the same as a multiplication by 4).

Increasing the distance would decrease the force.

So the correct option is D, one of the particles' charges being multiplied by 2 means that the equation for F is multiplied by 2, and thus, the force is doubled.