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4. How far apart are a proton and electron if they exert an attractive force of 3 N on one another?

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Answer:


8.76\cdot 10^(-15)m

Step-by-step explanation:

The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charges is given by the equation:


F=k(q_1 q_2)/(r^2)

where:


k=9\cdot 10^9 Nm^(-2)C^(-2) is the Coulomb's constant


q_1, q_2 are the two charges

r is the separation between the two charges

And the force is:

- Attractive if the charges have opposite sign

- Repulsive if the charges have same sign

In this problem, we have:

F = 3 N is the force between the proton and the electron


q_1=q_2=1.6\cdot 10^(-19)C is the magnitude of the charge of the proton and the electron

Therefore, solving for r, we find the separation between the two particles:


r=\sqrt{(kq_1 q_2)/(F)}=\sqrt{((9\cdot 10^9)(1.6\cdot 10^(-19))^2)/(3)}=8.76\cdot 10^(-15)m

User Sachin Kalia
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