Question

Fill in the blanks. The electrostatic force between two objects is proportional to the ____________________ of the distance ____________________.

Answer 1

Write an equation to calculate the force between two objects if the product of their charges is 10.0 × 10-4 C. (Note: Use the variable R for the distance between the charges.)

F = 900 ÷_________

Answer 2

Answer:

The electrostatic force between two objects is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance between the centres of the two objects

Explanation:

According to Coulomb's law of electrostatic attraction, the electrostatic force F between two charges or objects is directly proportional to the product of the absolute values of the charges or (charges on the objects) and inversely proportional to the square of their distance of separation.

Given that $q_1$ and $q_2$ are the charges or the charges on the objects, we can break down Coulomb's statement mathematically as follows;

$F\alpha q_1q_2.............(1)$  F is proportional to the product of the charges.

$F\alpha \frac{1}{r^2}.......................(2)$ F is proportional to the inverse of the square of their distance r of separation.

This is an inverse-square relationship.