Question

Objects 1 and 2 attract each other with a electrostatic force of 18.0 units. If the charge of Object 2 is tripled, then the new electrostatic force will be _____ units.

Answer 1

Answer:

The force will be 54.0 units

Explanation:

The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charged objects is given by Coulomb's Law:

$F=\frac{kq_1 q_2}{r^2}$

where

k is Coulomb's constant

q1, q2 are the magnitude of the two charges

r is the separation between the two charges

From the equation, we see that the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the charge of object 2:

$F\propto q_2$

In this problem, the initial force between the two objects is

F = 18.0 N

And so, when the charge on object 2 is tripled,

$q_2'=3q_2$

The new electrostatic force will be

$F'\propto q_2' = (3q_2) = 3F$

So, the force will also triple: since the original force was 18.0 units, the new force will be

$F'=3F=3(18.0)=54.0$