the electrostatic forces are larger than the gravitational force
Explanation:
Let's do the calculation by using two molecules of hydrogen, each containing 2 atoms of hydrogen.
The gravitational force between the two molecules is given by:
where
is the gravitational constant
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two molecules: since they are identical,
, twice the mass of the proton
r is the distance between the two molecules
The force can be rewritten as
We can assume instead that electrostatic force between the two molecules is given by the interaction between the positively charged nuclei and the neatively charged electrons. Therefore,
where
is the Coulomb's constant
is the magnitude of the charge of each molecule, where
is the fundamental charge
r is the distance between the two molecules
So the force can be rewritten as
Therefore, the ratio between the two forces is:
So, the electrostatic forces are larger than the gravitational force.
Learn more about electric force:
Learn more about gravitational force:
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