What is Coulomb’s Law?

According to Coulomb’s law, the force of attraction or repulsion between two charged bodies is directly
proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them. It acts along the line joining the two charges considered to be point charges.

Coulomb’s Law Formula

In Short: F ∝ q1q2/d2

where,

ε is absolute permittivity,

K or εr is the relative permittivity or specific inductive capacity

ε0 is the permittivity of free space.

K or εr is also called a dielectric constant of the medium in which the two charges are placed.

History of Coulomb’s Law

A French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb in 1785, coined a tangible relationship in mathematical
form between two bodies that have been electrically charged. He published an equation for the force
causing the bodies to attract or repel each other, which is known as Coulomb’s law or Coulomb’s
inverse-square law.

Coulomb’s Law in Vector Form

Here F12 is the force exerted by q1 on q2 and F21 is the force exerted by q2 on
q1.
YeCoulomb’s law holds for stationary charges only, which are point sized. This law
obeys Newton’s third law

Force on a charged particle due to a number of point charges is the resultant of

forces due to individual point charges i.e.

Diagram

What is 1 Coulomb of Charge?

A coulomb is a charge which repels an equal charge of the same sign with a force
of 9×109 N, when the charges are one meter apart in a vacuum. Coulomb force is
the conservative mutual and internal force.

The value of εo is 8.86 × 10-12 C2/Nm2 (or) 8.86 × 10-12 Fm–1

Note: Coulomb force is true only for static charges.

Coulomb’s Law – Conditions for Stability

If q is slightly displaced towards A, FA increases in magnitude while FB decreases
in magnitude. Now the net force on q is toward A so it will not return to its
original position. So for axial displacement, the equilibrium is unstable.

If q is displaced perpendicular to AB, the force FA and FB bring the charge to its
original position. So for perpendicular displacement, the equilibrium is stable.

Key Points on Coulomb’s Law

1. If the force between two charges in two different media is the same for
different separations,

2. Kr2 = constant or K1r12 = K2r22

3. If the force between two charges separated by a distance ‘r0’ in a vacuum is the
same as the force between the same charges separated by a distance ‘r’ in a
medium, then from Coulomb’s Law; Kr2 = r02

4. Two identical conductors having charges q1 and q2 are put to contact and then
separated, after which each will have a charge equal to (q1 + q2)/2. If the charges
are q1 and –q2, each will have a charge equal to (q1 – q2)/2.

5. Two spherical conductors having charges q1 and q2 and radii r1 and r2 are put
to contact and then separated the charges of the conductors after contact is;

q1 = [r1/(r1 + r2)] (q1 + q2) and q2 = [r2/(r1 + r2)] (q1 + q2)

6. If the force of attraction or repulsion between two identical conductors having

charges q1 and q2 when separated by a distance d is F. Also, if they are put to
contact and then separated by the same distance, the new force between them
is:
7. If charges are q1 and -q2, then F = F(q1 + q2)2 / 4q1q2

8. Between two electrons separated by a certain distance: Electrical

force/Gravitational force = 1042

9. Between two protons separated by a certain distance: Electrical

force/Gravitational force = 1036

10. Between a proton and an electron separated by a certain distance: Electrical

force/Gravitational force = 1039

11. The relationship between the velocity of light, the permeability of free space
and the permittivity of free space is given by the expression c = 1 / √ (μoεo )

12. If Coulomb’s law is applied to two identical balls of mass m are hung by silk
thread of length ‘l’ from the same hook and carry similar charges q, then;

•The distance between balls

•The tension in the thread

•If the total system is kept in space, then the angle between threads is 180°, and
tension in a thread is given by;

A charge Q is divided into q and (Q – q). Then electrostatic force between them is
maximum when
Limitations of Coulomb’s Law
The law is applicable only for the point charges at rest.

Coulomb’s Law can only be applied in those cases where the inverse square law is
obeyed.

It is difficult to implement Coulomb’s law where charges are in arbitrary shape

because in such cases, we cannot determine the distance between the charges.

The law can’t be used directly to calculate the charge on the big planets.

Relative Permittivity of a Material

= K=

•For air K = 1

•For metals K = infinity

The force between 2 charges depends upon the nature of the intervening
medium, whereas gravitational force is independent of the intervening medium.

For air or vacuum,

since for air or vacuum,

The value of 1/4πε0 is equal to 9 × 109 Nm2/C2.

Application Of The Coulombs Law

•To calculate the distance and force between the two charges.

•The electric field can be calculated using the coulombs law.

Where E = Strength of the electric field

F = Electrostatic force

QT = Test charge in coulombs

To calculate the force on one point due to the presence of several points
(Theorem of superposition).