Physics 30 Lesson 14 Coulomb’s Law
I. Historical development of Coulomb’s Law
In 1775, Ben Franklin noted that a small neutral cork hanging near
the surface of an electrically charged metal can was strongly attracted
to the outside surface of the metal can.
When the same neutral cork was lowered inside the can, the cork was not
attracted to the surface of the can. Franklin was surprised to discover no
attraction within the can but strong attraction outside the can.
Joseph Priestly was a house guest of Ben Franklin in 1775. Priestly had been studying
science at Cambridge, but had fled from England because of religious persecution.
Franklin asked Priestly to repeat his experiment. Priestly obtained the same results as
Franklin, but the experiment triggered memories of Newton’s discussion of gravity within
a hollow planet. Newton had examined the possibility of gravity inside a hollow planet
in his book Principia Mathematica “Principles of Mathematics”. Newton came to the
conclusion that any point inside the hollow planet would be subject to forces from the
surface but the forces would all cancel out leaving the appearance of no gravitational
field. Priestly reasoned that the appearance of no net electrical forces inside the metal
can might be very similar to gravity within the hollow planet. Priestly suggested that this
experiment showed that electrical forces were very similar to gravitational forces.
Charles Coulomb (1738 – 1806) was very intrigued by Priestly’s intuitive connection
between electrostatic forces and gravitational forces. He immediately began to test the
relationship using a torsion balance which was similar to a device that Cavendish had
used to measure the universal gravitational constant G. He measured the force of
electrostatic repulsion using the torsion balance as diagrammed to the right.
If (b) and (a) have like charges then they will repel each
other causing the rod to which (a) is attached to twist
away from (b). The force necessary to twist the wire
attached to the rod holding (a) could be determined by
first finding the relationship between the angle of torsion
and the repulsive force. Thus, Coulomb had a way to
measure the force of repulsion.
Coulomb then began to test the effect of increasing the
charge on both (a) and (b) and he found that the repulsive
force increased. Eventually he found that the electrostatic
force was directly proportional to the product of the
charge on each object.
Fe q1 q2 q1 charge on (b)
q2 charge on (a)
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Coulomb then tested to see the effect of increasing the distance between (a) and (b)
and found that the force decreased by the square of the distance between the two
Fe 2 r – distance between charges (center to center)
When Coulomb combined the two relationships together he found that the electrostatic
force varied directly as the product of the two charges and inversely as the square of
the distance between the two charged objects.
Fe 1 2 2
After repeated measurements where the charges and distances were known, he was
able to replace the proportionality sign with (k) which is known as Coulomb’s
k 8.99 109 NC2
The final result is known as Coulomb’s Law of electrostatic attraction.
The relationship is very similar to Newton’s Universal Gravitation Law and the
connection predicted by Priestly’s intuitive leap was confirmed.
II. Electrostatics problems
What is the electrostatic force of attraction between a –8.0 x 10-6 C charge and a
+6.0 x 10-5 C charge separated by 0.050 m?
q q Coulomb’s Law is used to calculate the
Fe k 1 2 2 magnitude of the electrostatic force.
r The direction of the force is determined
8.99 10 C2 (8.0 10 C)(6.0 10 C)
9 Nm2 by the Law of Charges (like charges
Fe repel, unlike charges attract). Since +
(0.050m)2 and – attract
Fe 1.7 10 2 N
Fe = 1.7 x 102 N attraction
An attractive force is sometimes indicated with a minus sign.
A repulsive force is sometimes indicated with a positive sign.
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A fixed charge of +5.0 x 10-4 C acts upon a 5.0 g mass which has a charge of
+7.0 x 10-4 C. If the charges are 0.50 m away from one another, what is the
acceleration experienced by the 5.0 g mass?
q q F
Fe k 1 2 2 a
8.99 109 NCm (5.0 10 4 C)(7.0 10 4 C)
Fe 12586N a 2.52 × 106 m s2
If the force between two equally charged particles is 9.0 x 10 6 N and the distance
between them is 0.50 cm, what is the charge on each particle?
Fe k 2
q1 q2 q1
q1 q1 9.0 106 N(0.0050m)2
Fe k q1
r2 8.99 109 NCm
q2 q1 q2 1.58 × 10-4 C
Fe k 1
When two charged particles are set a certain distance apart, a repulsive force of 8.0 N
exists. What is the force of repulsion between the two particles if the distance between
them is doubled and one of the charges is tripled in size?
In this solution, write the equation and then whatever is done to one side is done to the other side as well.
8.0N( 3) q q ( 3)
Fe k 12 2 2
r ( 2 )
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A +40 C charge and a +160 C charge are set 9.0 m apart. An unknown positive
charge is placed on a line joining the first two charges and it is allowed to move until it
comes to rest between the two charges. At what distance measured from the 160 C
charge will the unknown charge come to rest?
A C B
+40 C (+) charge +160 C
9.0 - x x
The charge will come to rest where the forces from A and B are equal to each other.
qA qC qB qC
(9.0 x)2 x2
x (9.0 x)2
x (9.0 x)2
0.25x 2 (9.0 x)2 (square root both sides)
0.50x 9.0 x
x 6.0 m
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From the diagram below determine the net electrostatic force on C.
–2.00 C 0.10 m +3.00 C
dAC 0.102 0.0752
dAC 0.125m C
0.10 +4.00 C
There are two forces acting on charge C: FB on C and FA on C.
q q q q
FB on C k B 2 C FA on C k A 2 C
8.99 10 C2 (3.00 10 C)(4.00 10 C)
8.99 109 NC2 (2.00 106 C)(4.00 106 C)
FB on C FA on C
FB on C 19.18N away from B FA on C 4.60N toward A
The free body diagram is: We can add these vectors together
by breaking the 4.60 N force into its
4.60 N north and west components.
FAC(W) = 4.60 sin53.1
FAC(N) = 3.68 west
53.1 FAC(N) = 4.60 cos53.1
4.60 FAC(N) = 2.76 north
Adding all of the components together:
(east-west) = 3.68 west
(north-south) = 2.76 north + 19.18 south = 16.42 south
FNET 16.422 3.682
FNET 16.42 N 3.68
12.6o W of S
FNET 16.8N 12.6o W of S
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III. Practice problems
1. Calculate the electric force between two point charges of –4.00 C and –3.00 C
when they are 2.00 cm apart. (270 N repulsion)
2. Two point charged objects produce an electric force of 0.0620 N on each other.
What is the electric force if the distance between them increases three times and
one of the charges is doubled? (0.0138 N)
3. Two point charges produce a repulsive force of 0.0340 N when placed 0.100 m
apart. What is the charge on each point charge if the magnitude of the larger
charge is three times the magnitude of the smaller charge? (0.112 C, 0.336 C)
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4. From the diagram below determine the net electrostatic force on charge B.
(19.9 N [16o W of N])
+2.00 C 0.10 m –3.00 C
5. Two small spheres, each with a mass of 2.00 x 10-5 kg are placed 0.350 m apart.
One sphere has a charge of -2.00 C and is fixed in position. The other sphere
has a charge of -3.00 C and is free to move. What is the initial acceleration of
the second sphere? Does the gravitational force have any effect on the
acceleration of the sphere? (2.2 x 104 m/s2)
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IV. Hand-in assignment
Part A – Electrostatics revisited
1. How could a neutral insulated metal conductor be given a negative charge using:
A. a negatively charged rod?
B. a positively charged rod?
Use diagrams to support your answer.
2. Why does rubbing a conductor not produce a static charge whereas rubbing an
insulator can produce a static charge?
3. What is the net charge on a metal sphere having an excess of 1.0 x 10 10
electrons? (–1.6 x 10 C)
4. What is the net charge on a metal sphere having a deficit of 1.0 x 10 electrons?
(+1.6 x 10-7 C)
5. If a negatively charged rod is brought near the knob of a positively charged
electroscope, what will happen to the separation between the leaves of the
6. A positively charged rod is brought near an electroscope that is already charged.
If the leaves spread further apart, what kind of charge does the electroscope
7. Given a solid metal sphere and a hollow metal sphere, each with the same radius,
which will hold the greater charge? Justify your answer.
8. A metal sphere with an excess of 7.75 x 1019 protons is touched to another
identical neutral metal sphere. What is the final charge on each sphere? (6.2 C)
9. Describe two ways to give a neutral electroscope a positive charge, using only a
piece of silk and a glass rod. Could the same materials be used to give it a
negative charge? If so, how?
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Part B – Coulomb’s Law problems
1. Compare Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation with Coulombs Law, pointing out
the similarities and differences.
2. Find the force of electrostatics attraction between a +100 C charge and a
–5.00 C charge located 50.0 cm apart. (–18.0 N)
3. If the force of attraction between two charges is 310 N, what will be the force if
one of the charges is made four times larger and the distance is reduced to half of
its original value? (–4.96 kN)
4. What charge q placed 4.0 cm from a charge of 80 nC will produce a repulsive
force of 0.015 N? (3.3 x 10-8 C)
5. Two small metallic spheres have the same mass and volume. One of the spheres
has a charge of +4.00 C and the other a charge of –1.00 C. If the two spheres
are brought into brief contact with each other and are then separated to a distance
of 0.200 m, what is the electric force between them? (0.506 N)
6. Two small, oppositely charged spheres have a force of electric attraction between
them of 1.6 x 10-2 N. What does this force become if the charge on each sphere
is halved and then they are replaced twice as far apart as before? (1.0 x 10-3 N)
7. One model of the structure if the hydrogen atom consists of a
stationary proton with an electron moving in a circular path around
it, of radius 5.3 x 10-11 m. ·
a) What is the electrostatic force between the electron and the
proton? (8.2 x 10-8 N)
b) What is the gravitational force between them? (3.6 x 10 -47 N)
c) What is the ratio of the electrostatic force to the gravitational
force? (2.3 x 1039:1)
d) Which force is mainly responsible for the electron’s centripetal motion?
e) Calculate the velocity and period of the electron’s orbit around the proton.
(2.2 x 106 m/s, 1.5 x 10-16 s)
8. Two small charges, +40 C and –18 C, are placed 24 cm apart. What is the
force on a third small charge, of magnitude –2.5 C, if it is placed on the line
joining the other two, and
a) 12 cm to the outside of them, on the side of the negative one? (21 N away
from negative charge)
b) 12 cm to the outside of them, on the side of the positive one? (59 N toward
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9. Two positive charges 4.0 cm apart repel each other with a force of 0.90 N. One of
the charges is known to be four times larger than the other charges. Find the
magnitude of the larger charge. (8.0 x 10-7 C)
10. In the diagram below, A has a charge of +0.30 C, B has a charge of -0.20 C
and C has a charge of -0.20 C. What is the net force on A? (0.093 N [S])
10 cm 10 cm
11. Three charges are placed as shown in the diagram below. What is the net force
on the +4.0 C charge? (0.500 N @ 53o S of E)
A small negatively charged Styrofoam ball lying on a table is pulled upward from
the table at a constant speed by the electrostatic force between it and another
Styrofoam ball held 2.0 cm above it. Assuming the balls have the same
magnitude of charge and the same mass (0.100 g), what is the smallest possible
charge on the ball on the table? (6.6 x 10-9 C)
13. Two positive charges A (+5.0 C) and B (+20 C) are 12.0 cm apart. A third
charge C (+4.0 C) is placed in the line between A and B and it is free to move
along the line. At what point, measured from B, will charge C come to rest? (8
*14. Two small, identical, charged spheres attract one another with a force of 8.0 x 10-5 N,
when they are 30 cm apart. They are touched together, and are again placed 30 cm
apart, but they now exert a force of repulsion of 1.0 x 10 -5 N on each other.
a) What is the charge on each sphere after they are touched? (1.0 x 10-8 C,
b) What was the charge on each before they were touched? (4.0 x 10-8 C
and 2.0 x 10-8 C, opposite signs)
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