Question

What do you think would happen to the force of attraction of two interacting charges if their distance apart is halved?

Answer 1

Answer:

The new force becomes 4 times the initial force.

Explanation:

The force of attraction or repulsion is given by the relation as follows :

$F=k\dfrac{q_1q_2}{d^2}$

Where

d is the distance between the interacting charges

F is inversely proportional to the distance between charges.

If the distance is halved, d'=(d/2), new force is given by :

$F'=k\dfrac{q_1q_2}{d'^2}\\\\=k\dfrac{q_1q_2}{(\dfrac{d}{2})^2}\\\\=k\dfrac{q_1q_2}{\dfrac{d^2}{4}}\\\\=4\times \dfrac{kq_1q_2}{d^2}\\\\F'=4F$

So, the new force becomes 4 times the initial force.