Here's the breakdown:
Coulomb's Law:
* Magnitude: The 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.
* Direction: The force is attractive if the charges are of opposite signs and repulsive if they are of the same sign.
Mathematical Formula:
```
F = k * (q1 * q2) / r²
```
Where:
* F is the force (in Newtons)
* k is Coulomb's constant (approximately 8.98755 × 10⁹ N⋅m²/C²)
* q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges (in Coulombs)
* r is the distance between the charges (in meters)
Key Points:
* Scalar Quantity: Coulomb's Law only calculates the magnitude of the force. The direction must be determined separately based on the signs of the charges.
* Inverse Square Law: The force decreases rapidly as the distance between the charges increases.
* Superposition Principle: If there are multiple charges present, the net force on a particular charge is the vector sum of the forces due to each individual charge.
Examples:
* Two positively charged objects will repel each other.
* Two negatively charged objects will repel each other.
* A positively charged object and a negatively charged object will attract each other.
Important Note: This formula applies to point charges, which are idealized objects with no size. For extended objects, the force calculation can be more complex.