COULOMB’S LAW

FRANCIS TAMPOS
Coulomb’s Law
 Coulomb’s law states that the electric force exerted by a point charge on a second
point charge is

 where r is the distance between the two charges and 12 is a unit vector directed from
toward . The constant , which is called the Coulomb constant, has the value = 8.988
x N /.
Coulomb constant 
 where is a constant called the Coulomb constant. In
his experiments, Coulomb was able to show that the
value of the exponent of r was 2 to within an uncertainty
of a few percent. Modern experiments have shown that
the exponent is 2 to within an uncertainty of a few parts
in 1016. Experiments also show that the electric force,
like the gravitational force, is conservative.
Charles Coulomb

Charles Coulomb
French physicist (1736–1806) Coulomb’s major
contributions to science were in the areas of electrostatics
and magnetism. During his lifetime, he also investigated the
strengths of materials, thereby contributing to the field of
structural mechanics. In ergonomics, his research provided an
understanding of the ways in which people and animals can
best do work.
Example 23.1 The Hydrogen Atom
The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated (on the average) by a distance of
approximately 5.3 x m. Find the magnitudes of the electric force and the gravitational
force between the two particles.
Thank you