Narrative Report in General Physics II

Calculate the Net Electric

Force on a Point Charge by a
System of Point Charges

Submitted by:
Nathaniel B. Gersalina
Sean Gabriel T. Gariando

Submitted to:
Mrs. Elsa M. Macanda
Physics Teacher
Coulomb's Law
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736–
1806), a French physicist, was the proponent of
Coulomb's Law. He formulated this law in the
late 18th century, precisely in 1785, describing
the electrostatic force between charged particles.
Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic
force between two charged objects. It states that
the force is directly proportional to the product of
the magnitudes of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance
between them.

Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic force between two charged objects.
The formula is:

Where:
F: Is the electrostatic force between the charges.(N)
k: Is coulomb's constant (9x10⁹ Nm²/C²)
q¹ and q²: magnitudes of the electric charges (C)
r: is the distance between the charges. (m)

Using this equation, it can be seen that the two equal charges of one
coulomb separated by a distance of 1 meter will exert a repulsive force of
9x10^9 newtons (N) between them. This value is a very large quantity which
indicates that one coulomb (1 C) is a very large magnitude. So we use use
smaller units:

1 mC = 1x10`³ C
1 μC = 1x10`⁶ C MKSA
1 nC = 1x10`⁹ C (meter-kilogram-seconds-ampere)
1 pC = 1x10^-12 C
Sample Problem:
Three charged particles are arranged in a line q2 with a magnitude of 3.0 μC is
placed 30 cm to the right of q1 which has a charge -8.0 μC. To the right of q2 at
a distance of 20 cm from it is q3 with a magnitude of -4.0 μC. What is the net
force on q3 as a result of the other two charges?

Step 1: Sketch

Step 2: Isolate and Locate

Step 3: Calculate the Coulomb force

1. Given
2. Solution

Step 4: Calculate the Net Force