Here's why:
* Coulomb's Law: 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. Mathematically:
F = k * (q1 * q2) / r²
where:
* F is the force
* k is Coulomb's constant
* q1 and q2 are the charges
* r is the distance between the charges
* Halving the Distance: If you halve the distance (r/2), the denominator in the equation becomes (r/2)². This means the force is now multiplied by 2² = 4.
In simpler terms: As the charges get closer, the force between them gets stronger. Halving the distance makes the force four times stronger.
