Here's why:
* Coulomb's Law: The electric force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Mathematically:
F = k * (q1 * q2) / r^2
Where:
* F is the electric force
* k is Coulomb's constant
* q1 and q2 are the charges of the particles
* r is the distance between the particles
* Doubling the distance: If you double the distance (r becomes 2r), the denominator in the equation becomes (2r)^2 = 4r^2.
* Force reduction: This means the force is now 1/(4r^2) compared to the original 1/r^2. Therefore, the force decreases by a factor of 4.
