Question

How would you change the distance between two positively charged particles if the distance is increased by a factor of 2?

a. it is decreased by a factor of 2
b. it is increased by a factor of 2
c. it is increased by a factor of 4
d. it is decreased by a factor of 4

Answer 1

Answer:

D, it would decrease by a factor of 4

Explanation:

We know the force between two charged particles, also known as Coulombs law.

$F = \frac{kq_{1}q_{2}}{r^2}$

We are only changing the distance, not the charges, so we can ignore both q and look at r, which is the distance between the two positively charged particles.

So let F be our initial condition:

$F \alpha \frac{1}{r^2} \\F' \alpha  \frac{1}{(2*r)^2} = \frac{1}{4*r^2}\\F' = \frac{1}{4} *F$

So the answer is D, it decreases by a factor of 4.