A French physicist named Charles Augustin Coulomb (1736-1806) was the one who first made an experiment to measure the magnitude of repulsion or attraction between charge by using an instrument called torsion balance. Based on his experiment, Coulomb put forward his statement known as Coulomb’s law that states:
“The force of attraction or repulsion between two electric charges is directly proportional to their charges and inversely proportional to the square of distance between the two charges.”
Mathematically, Coulomb’s law can be stated as follows
Example
1. Two electrically charged bodies lie at a distance of 2 meters from each other. If the first body
has a charge of 4 C and the second body has a charge of -6, what is the magnitude of coulomb
force happening between those two charges?
Solution
Given that
2. Two bodies have charge of -3 x 10-9 C and -6 x 10-9 C each. Both lie at a distance of 10 m away
from each other. What is the magnitude of Coulomb force between those two charges?
Solution
Given that
Reference:
Irawan, Etsa Indra dan Sunardi. 2008. Pelajaran IPA-Fisika Bilingual untuk SMP/MTs. Kelas IX. Bandung: CV.Yrama Widya.
