A student is investigating coulomb\'s law. The student measures a force of +2.00
ID: 1952038 • Letter: A
Question
A student is investigating coulomb's law. The student measures a force of +2.00 x 10^-3 N between the two charged spheres.a) Explain how you can tell whether the charges are both positive, both negative, or positive and negative
b) Describe two methods the student could use to increase the force to 64 times its current value
c) The student then touches one of the spheres with a neutral sphere of equal size and then removes the neutral sphere. They then move one of the spheres so the distance is three times the original distance. What is the ratio of the original force to the new force?
Explanation / Answer
(a) If the charge is either both positive or both negative, the force is repulsive (just think of magnets!). So the force would have a positive sign if you want to show direction. If the charges are positive and negative then the force is attractive. And the force would have a negative sign to show direction.
(b) You can either increase one of the charges by multiplying it by 64. Or you can move the charges apart by a factor of 1/8.The equation of force is F=kq1q2/r2 so you want to find how to get 64xF.
(c)This answer kind of depends on the charges of the spheres. Are the charges on the spheres equal in magnitude? I don't think enough information is given to answer this part.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.