Lesson 1.

Coulomb’s Law

General Physics 2
1/2
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
How do electrical charges
interact with one another?

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 Learning Competencies
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● State that there are positive and negative

charges, and that charge is measured in
coulombs (STEM_GP12EMIIIa-4).

● Calculate the net electric force on a point

charge exerted by a system of point charges
(STEM_GP12EMIIIa-6).

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 Learning Competencies
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Solve problems involving electric charges,

dipoles, forces, fields, and flux in contexts such
as, but not limited to, systems of point charges,
classical models of the atom, electrical
breakdown of air, charged pendulums, control
of electron and proton beams, electrostatic ink-
jet printers (STEM_GP12EMIIIa-14).

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 Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Predict the direction of the net force in a charge in

a system of charges.

● State Coulomb’s law.

● Calculate net electric force in one-dimensional and

two-dimensional problems.

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 Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Solve problems involving electrostatic forces in the

context of systems of point charges.

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 Recall: Interaction of Charges

Suppose you have a positively charged sphere fixed on a wall.

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 Recall: Interaction of Charges

What happens you place another positively charged sphere?

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Recall: Interaction of Charges

Like charges repel.

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 Recall: Interaction of Charges

What happens you place another negatively charged

sphere?

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Recall: Interaction of Charges

Unlike charges attract.

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Recall: Interaction of Charges

Charges exert force to one another.

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What are the factors that affect
the forces between two
charges?

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Coulomb’s Law

Suppose two charges exert force to one another.

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Coulomb’s Law

How do we quantify the force?

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Coulomb’s Law

What happens to the force when we increase their

distance?

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Coulomb’s Law

What happens to the force when we decrease their

distance?

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 Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb’s Law
The magnitude of the electric force between two point
charges is directly proportional to the product of the
charges and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them.

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 Let’s Practice!

Two point charges, q1 = +5 C and q2 = -3 C, are

separated by a distance r = 30 000 m. Find the
magnitude of the electric force that q1 exerts to q2.
Predict whether it will be attractive or repulsive.

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 Let’s Practice!

Two point charges, q1 = +5 C and q2 = -3 C, are

separated by a distance r = 30 000 m. Find the
magnitude of the electric force that q1 exerts to q2.
Predict whether it will be attractive or repulsive.

150 N, attractive

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Try It!
Two charged spheres are hanging from
two planes by an insulating string. One
of the spheres has a charge of 6 C, and
the other has a charge of -12 C. When
the two planes are at a distance of 50
000 m, calculate the force that each
sphere exerts on the other. Assume that
the only force that acts on the spheres
is the electrostatic force.
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 Let’s Practice!

Two equally charged spheres exert 12 N to each

other. If they are separated by a distance of 12 m,
calculate the charge on either sphere.

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 Let’s Practice!

Two equally charged spheres exert 12 N to each

other. If they are separated by a distance of 12 m,
calculate the charge on either sphere.

4.38 ✕ 10-4 C

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Try It!

Two spheres, one is charged twice as

much as the other, are separated with a
distance of 6 m. At this distance, they
exert 20 N to each other. Calculate the
charge of each sphere.

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Tips

In solving problems involving Coulomb’s

law, make sure that all of the units are
expressed in terms of SI.

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 Free-Body Diagrams

Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative

magnitude and direction of all forces acting upon an object
in a given situation.

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 Free-Body Diagrams

Refer to these three interacting particles A, B, and C.

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 Free-Body Diagrams

Relative to A Relative to B

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Free-Body Diagrams

Relative to C

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How can we solve the net force
in a system of point charges?

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Superposition of Forces

What happens when multiple charges are present?

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 Superposition of Forces

All other charged particles exert force to one another.

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Superposition of Forces

Focus on charged particle q1.

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Superposition of Forces

The other positively charged particles repel q1.

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 Superposition of Forces

The overall force felt by q1 is the sum of all the forces.

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 Superposition of Forces

Superposition of Forces
When more than two charges are present, the resultant
force on any one of them equals the vector sum of the
forces exerted by the various individual charges.

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 Let’s Practice!
Two point charges are located on the x-axis of a coordinate
system: q1 = 3.0 C is at x = +2.0 m, and q2 = -5.0 C is at x = +4.0 m.
What is the total electric force exerted by q 1 and q 2 on a
charge q3 = 5.0 C at x = 0? Where is the net force directed?

The net force on q3 is ‒1.97 ✕ 10 10 N. It is directed to

the left because of the negative sign.

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 Let’s Practice!

Three charges lie along the x-axis as shown in the figure below.
A positive charge q1 = 15.0 nC is at x = 2.00 m and another
positive charge q2 = 6.0 nC is at the origin, and the resultant
force acting on q3 is zero. What is the x coordinate of q3?

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 Let’s Practice!

Three charges lie along the x-axis as shown in the

figure below. A positive charge q1 = 15.0 nC is at x =
2.00 m and another positive charge q2 = 6.0 nC is at
the origin, and the resultant force acting on q3 is
zero. What is the x coordinate of q3?

The charge q3 is located at x = 0.77 m.

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Try It!

Three charges are along the x-axis.

Charge q1 is at x = -2.00 cm, q2 = -3 nC
and is located at x = 4 cm and q3 is at the
origin with a charge of 5 nC. Calculate
for the charge of q1 if the net force at q3
is zero.

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How are we going to solve the
net force on a charge in a two-
dimensional system?

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Sample Problem
Three point charges 𝑞1 = −4𝑥10−8 𝐶,
𝑞2 = 6𝑥10−8 𝐶 , and 𝑞3 = 8 𝑥10−8 𝐶
are placed on the vertices of an
equilateral triangle whose side is 𝑟 =
2𝑥10−3 𝑚. Calculate the net force on
q1.
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43
 Check Your Understanding

Write T if the statement is true. Otherwise, change the

underlined word(s) to make the statement correct.
1. There is an inverse-square relationship between
electrostatic force and distance separation of forces.

1. Two positive charges will have an attractive force.

1. The direction of the electrostatic force is determined by

the charges of the particles.
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● Coulomb’s law quantifies the amount of force

between two stationary charged particles.

● The electrostatic force is directly dependent on

the amount of charge of the interacting particles.

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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● There is an inverse-square relationship between

the electrostatic force and the distance
separation of the charges.

● In getting the net force on a point charge in a

system of charges, superposition of forces should
be applied.
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 Key Formula

Concept Formula Description

Use this formula in

Coulomb’s Law
solving for the
where electrostatic force
● Fe is the electrostatic force
● 1/4πε0 is the electric
between two stationary
constant which can also be charges. Note that this
noted as k with a value of
8.988 x 109 N m2 C-2
shows an inverse-
● q1 and q2 are charges square relationship
expressed in terms of
Coulomb (C).
between the force and
● r is the distance separation the distance
of q1 and q2.
separation.
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Bibliography
Freedman, Roger A. and Young, Hugh D. Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern
Physics (13th ed). USA: Pearson Education, 2012.

Homer, David and Bowen-Jones, Michael. Physics Oxford IB Diploma Programme. UK: Oxford
University Press, 2014.

Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics (11th ed). New York: Pearson Education, 2010.

Sang, David, Graham, Jones, et.al. Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Coursebook.
UK: University Printing House, 2014.

Young, Hugh D., Roger A. Freedman, and A. Lewis Ford. Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics with
Modern Physics (13th ed). USA: Pearson Education, 2012.

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