Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's Law

1. Created in 1785

2. Purpose

   • To determine the force of attraction or repulsion between two charges

3. Law

   • The magnitude of the electrostatic force is proportional to the product of the magnitude of the charges. It is inversely proportional to the distance squared.

4. Formula

   • Fe = ke | q1 * q2 | ------------------- r^2
     • Fe = electrostatic force aka magnitude
     • Ke = electrostatic constant- 9 x 10^9 Nm^2/ C^2
     • r = distance
     • q1,q2 = charges
     • similar to Newton's formula for gravitational force