Coulomb’s law

Virtual laboratory

Coulomb’s law describes the electrostatic force created by charges bodies. According to
Coulomb’s Law, the force of attraction (or repulsion) between two charged bodies is directly
proportional to the product of their charged magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance between them. In equation,

Where: k= Coulomb’s constant = 9.0x10^9 Nm^2/C^2

q1= charge on mass 1
q2= charge on mass 2
r= the distance between the two charges

In this part of the activity, you will explore the Coulomb’s Law interactive Simulation to
investigate the relationship among electrostatic force, charge magnitudes and the distance
separation between charges.

Learning Objectives:
1. To determine how the magnitude of electrostatic force changes as a function of charge
magnitudes and distance between charged objects.
2. To compare the electrostatic force exerted by charged bodies on each other.
3. To verify the results of the experiment using Coulomb’s Law.

Materials:

Simulation Title: Coulomb’s Law

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/coulombs-law/latest/coulombs-law_en.html
Procedure
1. Once the program is loaded, select the Macro Scale option and familiarize yourself with
the components of the simulation.

2. The magnitude of the two charged bodies can be adjusted by clicking the button or
moving the glider.
3. The distance between charged bodies can be increased or decreased by moving the
charges left and right. Use the given ruler to measure the distance. The separation
distance, r, between charges bodies is taken as the distance between their centers.
4. Explore the Coulomb’s Law interactive Simulation by completing the table and
answering the guide questions.

A. Effect of varying Distance of Electrostatic Force

1. Determination how the separation distance between charged objects affects electrostatic
force between them. Assign the charge of q1 and q2 and hold it constant. Let the initial
distance between charges be 4.0cm.

Charge 1, q1= -2
Charge 2, q2= 6
 A. Data Table1. Effect of Varying Distance to Electrostatic Force

Separation distance, r, Electrostatic Force,

F,
Cm (N)
1. Initial distance 4
2. Double the distance 8
3. Reduced the distance to ½ 2

2. Verify the results of the experiment. Compute for the electrostatic force for the three
conditions using Coulomb’s Law. Do not forget to covert to standard units- Coulomb ©
for q. meter (m) for r, and Newton (N) for F.

B. Effect of varying Charges to Electrostatic Force

1. Determine how the charge magnitudes affect the electrostatic force. Assign the value for
the separation distance between charges and hold it constant. Let the initial charge of q1
and q2 be 2.0uC.

Separation Distance= 6

Data table2: effect of Varying Charges to Electrostatic Force

Charge 1, q1 Charge 2, q2 Electrostatic Force, F (N)
uC uC

1. Initial charge
2. Double q1 and triple q2
3. Reduced both q1 and q2 to ½.

2. Verify the results of the experiment. Compute for the electrostatic force for the three
conditions using Coulomb’s Law. Do not forget to covert to standard units- Coulomb ©
for q. meter (m) for r, and Newton (N) for F.