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) / r²
where:
* F is the electric force
* k is Coulomb's constant
* q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges
* r is the distance between the charges
* Increasing Distance: If you increase the distance (r) by a factor of 5, the denominator of the equation becomes 5² = 25 times larger.
* Force Reduction: Since the force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, the force will be reduced by a factor of 25.
