Coulomb’s Law Problems (L)

qq
F = k 1 22 ,
r

1. Calculate the electrical force between two protons in the nucleus of a helium atom when separated
by 2.0 x 10-15 m.

2. A man and a woman are standing 10 m apart with no net charge.

a. What negative charge must be transferred from the woman to the man to cause an attractive
force of 200 N?

b. Which one (man or woman) experiences the greater electrical force? Explain your
answer.

man

3. Two charges exert a force of 4.0 N on each other when separated by 1.0 m. Indicate the
magnitude of the force when:
a. The separation is doubled, explain. a.

b.

c.
b. The separation is reduced by ½, explain.
d.

c. The magnitude of one charge is reduced by ½.

d. The magnitude of both charges are doubled.

4. Measurements show that a honey bee in active flight can acquire an electrostatic charge as great
as 9.3 x 10-5 C. Suppose two bees, each gain a charge of 9.3 x 10-6 C and are separated 1.2 cm
from each other.
a. Calculate the force between the bees.

b. Is the force exerted on each bee a repelling or attracting force? How do you know? Explain

repelling

-4.0 x 10-6 C +6.0 x 10-6 C -7.0 x 10-6 C

5. The diagram to the right shows 3 point q2 q1 q3
charges that lie along a line.
0.20m 0.15m
a. Determine the magnitude of the electrostatic force on q1.

b. Determine the direction of the acceleration of q1. Explain your reasoning.

6. A young man accumulates a charge q1 of +2.0 x 10-5 C while sliding out of the front seat of a car.
His girlfriend, who had been waiting in the wind, has picked up some extra electrons and now has
a charge q2 of -8.0 x 10-5 C.
Estimate the magnitude of the electrical force that each person exerts on the other when separated by
a distance of 6.0 m. Is the force attractive or repulsive?

-1.66666667E-6
attractive