12

CLASS

Electrostatics
Coulomb’s Law

Jayant Nagda
Jayant Nagda
B.Tech, IIT Bombay
IIT-JEE AIR - 161
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Charles Augustin de Coulomb

French Physicist

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736 – 1806)

Began his career as a military engineer

In the West Indies.

In 1776, he returned to Paris and

retired to a small estate
to do his scientific research.
 Charles Augustin de Coulomb

He invented a torsion balance to

measure the quantity of a force and
used it for determination of
forces of electric attraction or repulsion
between small charged spheres.
 Different Methods of Charging

Charging by Conduction
 Charles Augustin de Coulomb

He invented a torsion balance to

measure the quantity of a force and
used it for determination of
forces of electric attraction or repulsion
between small charged spheres.
Coulomb’s Law

In 1785 he arrived at the inverse square law relation,

now known as Coulomb’s law.

The law quantifies the amount of force between

two stationary, electrically charged particles
Coulomb’s Law

According to the law,

magnitude of electrostatic force
acting between two point charges is
directly proportional to product of charges and
inversely proportional to square of the distance
between them (Inverse Square Law).
When the distance between two charged particle is halved,
the force between them becomes-
A. One fourth

B. One half

C. Double

D. Four times
Each of the two point charges are doubled and their
distance is halved. Force of interaction becomes n
times, where n is -
Coulomb’s Law

Two point electric charges q1 and q2 at rest,

separated by a distance r exert a force on each other
Whose magnitude is given by
q 1q2
F F= k
r2

k is a proportionality constant

k=
Two identical charges repel each other with a force of 2.5 N
when placed 3 m apart. The magnitude of each charge is -

A. 40 μC

B. 50 μC

C. 50 μC

D. None of these
 Two similar and equal charges repel each other with
force of 1.6 N, when placed 3m apart. Strength of each
charge is -
A. 40μC

B. 20μC

C. 4μC
D. 2μC

Ans: A
Fg and Fe represent the gravitational and electrostatic
force respectively between two electrons situated at
some distance. The ratio of Fg to Fe is of the order of

A. 1036

B. 101

C. 100

D. 10-43
Coulomb’s Constant k

k is also known as Coulomb’s constant

k can be measured experimentally

q1 q 2
F= k
r2 k = 8.98755 × 109 Nm2C–2

k = 9 x 109 N-m2/C2

Dimensions of k ?
Permittivity of Free Space 𝜀0

q1q 2 1 q 1q2
F=k F=
r2 4π𝜀o r2

𝜀0: permittivity of free space or vacuum

𝜀o =
Permittivity of a Medium 𝜀

measure of the electric polarizability of the material of medium

How well the medium allows/permits

electric field to pass through it
Permittivity of a Medium 𝜀

measure of the electric polarizability of the material of medium

How well the medium allows/permits

electric field to pass through it

Depends on atomic/molecular structure of medium,

its dipole characteristics.

𝜀0: permittivity of free space or vacuum

1
𝜀o =
4πk
𝜀o = 8.854 x 10-12 C2 N-1 m-2
The dimensions of permittivity of a medium are -

A. M-1L-3T4A2

B. ML3T-4A-2

C. MLT-3A2

D. None of these
Relative Permittivity of a Medium K or 𝜀r

If 𝜀0: permittivity of free space or vacuum

Permittivity of any other medium

can be expressed as

K: Relative permittivity or Dielectric Constant

of material of the medium
Relative Permittivity of a Medium K or 𝜀r

𝜀 = K 𝜀0

K lies between 1 and ∞

with Kvacuum = 1 and Kconductor= ∞

Now as K ≥ 1 (i.e ε > ε0)
The permittivity of vacuum is 8.86 × 10-12C2/N-m2 and
the dielectric constant of water is 81. The permittivity
of water in C2/N-m2 is-

A. 81 × 8.86 × 10-12

B. 8.86 × 10-12

C. (8.86 × 10-12)/81

D. 81/(8.86 × 10-12)
 The dimensions of dielectric constant or relative
permittivity of a medium are-

A. M-1L-3T4A2

B. ML3T-4A-2

C. MLT-3A2

D. None of these

Ans: D
Coulomb’s Force in Different Medium

Charges placed in medium other than vacuum

experience a net force that is given by

1 q1 q2
F=
4π𝜀 r2

where 𝜀 is the permittivity of this new medium

& 𝜀 = K 𝜀0
K: Dielectric Constant of material of the medium
Coulomb’s Force in Different Medium

When charges are submerged in water medium

KWater = 81
Two charges are at distance (d) apart in air. Coulomb
force between them is F. If a dielectric material of
dielectric constant (K) is placed between them, the
coulomb force now becomes-

A. F/K

B. FK

C. F/K2

D. K2F
 The force between two point charges placed in vacuum
at distance 1 mm is 18 N. If a glass plate of thickness 1
mn and dielectric constant 6, be kept between the
charges and new force between them would be -

A. 18 N

B. 108 N

C. 3 N

D. 3 × 10-6 N

Ans: C
 Two point charges certain distance apart in air repel
each other with a force F. A glass plate is introduced
between the charges. The force becomes F1 where,

A. F1 < F

B. F1 = F

C. F1 > F

D. data is insufficient

Ans: A
 A certain charge ‘Q’ is to be divided into two parts q
and Q - q. What is the relationship of ‘Q’ to ‘q’ if the
two parts, placed at a given distance ‘r’ apart are to
have maximum Coulomb repulsion?

A. q = Q/2

B. q = Q/3

C. q = 2Q/3

D. q = Q/4

Ans: A
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