Coulomb’s Law

The amount of electric charge an object has

is measured in terms of Coulomb (C)
Where 1 coulomb = 6.25x 10 18
electrons
One electron = 1.60 x 10 -19
Coulomb
Coulomb is also known as the
charge of an electron.
 HOW DO WE DETERMINE THE
CHARGE OF AN ELECTRON?
Using the equation Q = ne
Where Q = amount of charge
In coulomb; n= no.of particles;
e= basic charge of electron
1.60 x 10 -19 Coulomb
Sample Problem
20 M electrons are transferred
from object A to B.
Find the charge of the 2 objects.
How much charge
was transferred?
SOLUTION:
n= 20 M e- A loses e- = +
B gains e- = -
Q=ne
=(+2.0 x 10 ) (-1.60 x 10 - )
7 19

=-3.2 x 10 -19
TRY THIS!

How many electrons must be

removed from an object
for it to have a charge of 1.0 C?
6.3 x 10 -18
 Coulomb’s Law
The electric force between charged
particles is proportional
to the quantity of each of the charges
and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them.
Mathematically expressed as:
q1 q2
F=k
d 2

Where: F is the electric force in Newton;

q1 and q2 are the magnitude of
charges in C; d is the distance in m; k is the
Coulomb constant equal to
9 x 10 9 Nm2 /C2
Sample Problem
Calculate the force of attraction between
The lone electrons and protons in a H atom.
The average distance between them is
5.0 x 10 -11
m
Hint: Recall the charges of electron
and proton
SOLUTION:

F= (9 x 10 9 Nm2 /C2 ) X

(1.60 x 10 -19 C) (-1.60 x 10 -19 C)

(5 x 10 –11 m )2
F= 9.2 x 10 – N
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