How does the coulomb law differ from newton's law of universal gravitation?
1 Answer
Mar 30, 2015
The only real difference is that charges can be positive or negative.
Both laws look just the same:
There are two masses/charges to be multiplied, then divided by the square of the distance. And there is a constant to get all the units right.
So far, no difference.
But then. charges can have opposite signs, and then they attract. If they have the same sign, the force is directed away from each other.
Masses (as far as we know) always have the same sign, and then they attract.
