Question

Matt forgot to put the fabric softener in the wash. As his socks tumbled in the dryer, they became charged. If a small piece of lint with a charge of +1.25 E -19 C is attracted to the socks by a force of 3.0 E -9 N, what is the magnitude of the electric field at this location?

Answer 1

Answer:

$2.4\cdot 10^{10} N/C$

Explanation:

The electric force exerted on a charge due to an electric field is given by:

$F=qE$

where

q is the magnitude of the charge

F is the magnitude of the force

E is the magnitude of the electric field

In this problem, we have:

$q=1.25\cdot 10^{-19}C$ is the charge

$F=3.0\cdot 10^{-9} N$ is the magnitude of the force

using these data and re-arranging the equation, we can calculate the magnitude of the electric field:

$E=\frac{F}{q}=\frac{3.0\cdot 10^{-9} N}{1.25\cdot 10^{-19} C}=2.4\cdot 10^{10} N/C$