Two small charged spheres having charges of 2 * 10 ^ - 7 * C and 3 * 1...
Calculation of Electrostatic Force
Given, the charges of the two spheres are q1 = 2 * 10-7 C and q2 = 3 * 10-7 C and the distance between them is d = 3 cm = 0.03 m. The electrostatic force between them is given by Coulomb's law:
F = (1/4πε0) * (q1 * q2) / d2
where ε0 is the permittivity of vacuum, which is a constant with a value of 8.854 * 10-12 C2 / Nm2.
Substituting the given values, we get:
F = (1/4πε0) * (2 * 10-7 * 3 * 10-7) / (0.03)2
F = 1.2 * 10-16 N
Calculation of New Electrostatic Force
When the distance between the two spheres is doubled, i.e., d' = 2d = 0.06 m, the electrostatic force between them can be calculated using the same formula:
F' = (1/4πε0) * (q1 * q2) / d'2
Substituting the given values, we get:
F' = (1/4πε0) * (2 * 10-7 * 3 * 10-7) / (0.06)2
F' = 3 * 10-17 N
Explanation
Electrostatic force is the force between two charged objects due to their charges and the distance between them. Coulomb's law gives us a way to calculate this force for point charges. The force is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
In this problem, we were given the charges of two small spheres and the distance between them. Using Coulomb's law, we found the electrostatic force between them to be 1.2 * 10-16 N. When the distance between them was doubled, we found the new electrostatic force to be 3 * 10-17 N.
This shows that the electrostatic force decreases as the distance between the charged objects increases. When the distance is doubled, the force becomes one-fourth of its original value. This is because the force is inversely proportional to