Electrostatic Force: Coulomb’s Force & Applications

Electrostatic Force: The electrostatic force is the attraction or repulsion force that exists between two charged particles. It’s also known as Coulomb’s interaction or Coulomb’s force. For example, the electrostatic force between protons and electrons in an atom is responsible for the atom’s stability.

The electrostatic bonding force is significant in chemistry because it bonds an ionic molecule. On this page let us learn everything about electrostatic force in detail. Read further to find more.

Coulomb’s Law

The force acting along the line joining two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the two charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

\(F= k|\frac{q1,q2}{r^{2}}|\)

In the above equation, k is arbitrary and we can choose any positive value for it. Since k is a constant, it was decided to put the value of k as:

So, taking the values of q1 and q2 as 1 and r = 1 (two charges with 1 coulomb charge each placed 1m apart) we get \(F = 9\times10^{9}N\). In the above equation \(\varepsilon _{0}\) is called the permittivity of free space and its value in the SI unit is \(8.854\times 10^{-12}C^{2} N^{-1} m^{-2}\).

Examples of Electrostatic Forces

Here are some examples of these forces:

When a balloon is rubbed with human hairs and brought close to another balloon, both start to stick together.
After ironing a silk or cotton cloth, it clings to the body automatically.
Lightning also occurs due to electrostatic force.

Applications and Uses of Coulomb Force

Some of the common applications of Coulomb’s Force are as under:

a) To perform magic tricks
b) Photocopiers
c) Electrostatic air filters
d) Ink-jet and laser printers

Questions on Electrostatics

Here are some important questions that are based on Coulomb’s Law and Force:

Q1. If the static electric force is 540 N, what is the distance between both charges? (1 μC = 10^-6C and k = 9.10⁹ N.m².C^-2)?
Q2. 2 charges are separated by a distance ‘r’. If the static electric force is 4.8 N, what is the distance between both charges?
Q3. What is Coulomb’s Law?
Q4. What is the Van de Graaff Generator?

Summary

Coulomb’s law may be used to calculate the electrostatic force between two charged particles. It is most commonly used with point charges and provides a connection between the electrostatic force, charge magnitude, and separation distance. The force between the two particles, according to this rule, is,

Directly proportional to the product of the magnitude of the charges
Inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two charges

Assume the two charged particles are brought very near together. If the charges are opposite, i.e., one is positive and the other is negative, there will be an attraction. The charges, on the other hand, will repel each other if they are both positive or negative. To summarise, like charges repel one another while unlike charges attract each other.

FAQs

Here are some of the frequently asked questions on the topic:

Q1. What is the electric force?
Ans. The force of attraction or repulsion between two bodies that is caused due to their electrical charges is called electric force.

Q2. What is electrostatic force for class 8?
Ans. Electrostatic force for Class 8 can be defined as the force acting between 2 charged bodies. This can be attractive or repulsive in nature.

Q3. What is the formula of electrostatic force?
Ans. The formula for Coulomb’s Force is:
\(F= k|\frac{q1,q2}{r^{2}}|\)

Q4. What force is electrostatic force?
Ans. Coulomb force is otherwise called electrostatic force.

Q5. What is an example of electrostatic force?
Ans. Lightning is the force of electrostatic force.

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