How do you use Coulomb's law?

1 Answer
Mar 8, 2018

|Fe|=Kq1q2r2

Explanation:

Coulomb's law is the formula for electric force.
|Fe|=Kq1q2r2
The two q's shown are charges both in the standard units coulombs. The r is the distance between the two charges in meters. The K is the electrical constant, 9109 similar to the gravitational constant in the Fg formula Fg=Gm1m2r2. Coulomb's law however only provides the absolute value of the force to be felt due to the charges.

The law of attraction, stating that opposite charges attract and identical charges repel, is what you must use to decide the direction of the force. Two positives (or negatives) will repel each other while two opposite charges (positive and negative) will attract towards each other.