Coulombs Law Questions

1. A helium nucleus has charge +2e and a neon nucleus +10e, where e =
1.60 x 10-19 coul. With what force do they repel each other when
separated by 3 x 10-9 meters?
2. If two equal charges, each of 1 coulomb, were separated in air by a distance of 1 km,
what would be the force between them?
3. Determine the force between two free electrons spaced 1 angstrom (10-10 m) apart.
4. What is the force of repulsion between two argon nuclei when separated by 1
millimicron (10-9 m)? The charge on an argon nucleus is +18e.
5. Two equally charged pith balls are 3 cm apart in air and repel each other with a force
of 4 x 10-5 N. Compute the charge on each ball.
6. Two small equal pith balls are 3 cm apart in air and carry charges of +3 x 10-9 and
12 x 10-9 C respectively. Compute the force of attraction. If the balls are touched
and then separated by a distance of 3 cm, what will be the force between them?
7. The normal hydrogen atom consists of a proton nucleus and an orbital electron, each
carrying the fundamental charge of magnitude e = 1.60 x 10-19 C. Assuming that the
electron orbit is circular and the separation between the particles is 5.3 x 10-11 meters,
find:
a) the force of electrical attraction between the particles
b) the gravitational force of attraction between them
c) which force is larger? How many times?
(mass e- = 9.11 x 10-31 kg ; p+ = 1.67 x 10-27 kg)
8.

+5e

-4e
2 cm
1 cm

What is the net force on

the sphere having charge
of 4e?

+2e
9. Charges of +2, +3 and 8 microcoulombs are placed in air at the vertices of an
equilateral triangle of side 10 cm. Calculate the magnitude of the force acting on the
-8c due to the other two charges.
(1 microcoulomb (1 c) = 1 x 10-6 C)

Answers for Coulombs Law Questions

5.1 x 10-10 N
8930 N repulsion
2.3 x 10-8 N repulsion
7.4 x 10-8 N
2 x 10-9 C
a) 3.6 x 10 4 N
b) 2 x 10-4 N repulsion
a) 8.14 x 10-8 N
b) 3.61 x 10-47 N
c) Electrical force 2.25 x 10-47 times greater
8. Fnet = 2.16 x 10-23 N L58D
9. 31.1 N
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