Ho Chi Minh City

University of
Technology
Department of
Applied Science
2021-2022
Ho Chi Minh City
University of
Technology
1|Page
Department of
Applied Science
2021-2022
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
2022-2023

Physics project report

2|Page
 Determining the electrostatic interacting forces
between charged particles in free space

Instructor: Nguyễn Như Sơn Thủy

Class: CC01_2022
Group No: 4
Completion day: December 10, 2022

MEMBER LIST
No. Full name Student ID

1 Hoàng Đức Chính 2252093

2 Lê Nguyễn Minh Duẫn 2252108

3|Page
 3 Lê Minh Quốc 2250017

4 Cao Minh Tiến 2252807

4|Page
 1. Introduction
Coulomb force, also called electrostatic force or Coulomb interaction, attraction or repulsion
of particles or objects because of their electric charge. One of the basic physical forces, the
electric force is named for a French physicist, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who in 1785
published the results of an experimental investigation into the correct quantitative description of
this force.

2. Theory
3. Coulomb’s Law
Charles Coulomb measured the magnitudes of the electric forces between
charged objects using the torsion balance, which he invented. The
operating principle of the torsion balance is the same as that of the
apparatus used by Cavendish to measure the gravitational constant, with
the electrically neutral spheres replaced by charged ones. The electric
force between charged spheres A and B in Figure 1 causes the spheres to
either attract or repel each other, and the resulting motion causes the
suspended fiber to twist. Because the restoring torque of the twisted fiber
is proportional to the angle through which the fiber rotates, a
measurement of this angle provides a quantitative measure of the electric
force of attraction or repulsion. Once the spheres are charged by rubbing,
the electric force between them is very large compared with the
gravitational attraction, and so the gravitational force can be neglected.

From Coulomb’s experiments, we can generalize the properties of the electric force between
two stationary charged particles. We use the term point charge to refer to a charged particle of
zero size. The electrical behavior of electrons and protons is very well described by modeling
them as point charges. From experimental observations, we find that the magnitude of the
electric force (sometimes called the Coulomb force) between two point charges is given by
Coulomb’s law:

|q 1||q2|
F e =k e 2
r

where ke is a constant called the Coulomb constant

9
k e =8.9876 ×10 N.m2/C

5|Page
 4. Electrostatic Interaction Force
Electrostatic interacting force of N-charged particles acting on charged particle q0 is determined
by the superposition principle as follows:

In which, is the electrostatic force of particle i acting on particle q0. This force is determined
by Coulomb's law:

9 2 2
With , k =9 .10 Nm /C ; r - the distance between the i-th point charge and the point charge q0.

This project requires students to use Matlab to calculate the Fx and Fy components of the
electrostatic force between point charges in the Oxy plane.

5. MATLAB Code and Explanation

1. Matlab code
clc

% Enter number of charged particle

n = input('Number of charged particle: ');

% Gan bien k =9*(10^9)

k = 9*(10^9);

disp('Please enter the coordinates of each particles.')

for i=1:n

fprintf('Particle %d :',i);

fprintf('\n');

disp('')

x(i) = input('x = ');

6|Page
 y(i) = input('y = ');

q(i) = input('q = ');

end

fprintf('-----------------------------\n');

disp('')

f_x_net(n) = 0;

f_y_net(n) = 0;

for i=1:n

fprintf('Fx and Fy components of particle-%d are:\n',i);

for j=1:n

if (j ~= i)

f_x_net(i) = f_x_net(i) + k*(q(i)*q(j)*(x(j) - x(i))) / (sqrt((x(j)-x(i))^2+(y(j)-y(i))^2))^3 ;

f_y_net(i) = f_y_net(i) + k*(q(i)*q(j)*(y(j) - y(i))) / (sqrt((x(j)-x(i))^2+(y(j)-y(i))^2))^3 ;

end

end

fprintf('Fx = %d \n',f_x_net(i));

fprintf('Fy = %d \n',f_y_net(i));

disp('')

end

2. Algorithm explanation
- clc : Clear command window.

- n = input('Number of charged particle: ') : Ask the user to enter the value n on the command
window when the program is launched.

- k= 9*10^9: assign value.

- disp('Please enter the coordinates of each particles.') : Output to the screen

the text “'Please enter the coordinates of each particles”.

7|Page
- for i=1/n : loop with statement structure “for”, run the values of i from 1 to n in turn and
execute the following statements (before end) for each value of i.

- fprintf('Particle %d :',i): print out "Particle <i>" depending on the i of that loop run.

- fprintf('\n'): new line to create a space between the output command lines, convenient and
intuitive for tracking results.

- disp(' '): prints out a blank line to the command window.

- x(i) = input('x = '): enter the coordinate value x.

- y(i) = input('y = '): enter the coordinate value y.

- q(i) = input('q = '): enter the value q.

- end: announces the end of a statement, usually a loop statement like for or the end of a
function.

- fprintf('-----------------------------\n'): prints out “-----------------------------“, to create a space

between the output command lines, convenient and intuitive for tracking results.

- disp(‘ ‘): prints out a blank line to the command window.

- f_x_net(n) = 0: sum the interaction forces of each charge on that charge in the direction of Ox.

- f_y_net(n) = 0: sum the interaction forces of each charge on that charge in the direction of Oy.

- for i=1/n : loop with statement structure “for”, run the values of i from 1 to n in turn and
execute the following statements (before end) for each value of i.

- fprintf('Fx and Fy components of particle-%d are:\n',i): prints out Fx and Fy components of

particle.

- for j=1/n : loop with statement structure “for”, run the values of j from 1 to n in turn and
execute the following statements (before end) for each value of j.

- if (j ~= i): if j not euquals to i.

- f_x_net(i) = f_x_net(i) + k*(q(i)*q(j)*(x(j) - x(i))) / (sqrt((x(j)-x(i))^2+(y(j)-y(i))^2))^3 : Fx net

value calculation

- f_y_net(i) = f_y_net(i) + k*(q(i)*q(j)*(y(j) - y(i))) / (sqrt((x(j)-x(i))^2+(y(j)-y(i))^2))^3 : Fy net

value calculation

- end: : announces the end of a statement, usually a loop statement like for or the end of a
function.

8|Page
- fprintf('Fx = %d \n',f_x_net(i)): prints out Fx result.

- fprintf('Fy = %d \n',f_y_net(i)): prints out Fy result.

- disp(''): prints out a blank line to command window.

- end: announces the end of a statement.

3. Results and discussion

At two points A(0.1m;0.2m), and B(0.2m;0.3m) in Oxy, 2 charges particles q1=3×10-6, q2=2×10-
6
are placed . Calculate the interactive force acting on each charged particle.

*Solution

*Command window of the code:

Particle 1:

FA=
√ F + F =√ 1.909 + 1.909 ≈ 2.7N
2
x
2
y
2 2

Particle 2:

FB =
√ F + F =√ 1.909 + 1.909 ≈ 2.7N
2
x
2
y
2 2

9|Page
 4. Conclusion
Our team was able to solve the given problem more quickly and easily with the help of the
Matlab tool. Writing the code was all that was required for Matlab to quickly and accurately
calculate the issue.

5. References
[1] https://www.britannica.com/science/Coulomb-force
[2] R.A. Serway and J.W. Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics,
Tenth edition

10 | P a g e