1. Understand Coulomb's Law
Coulomb's Law describes the force between two charged objects:
* F = k * (q1 * q2) / r²
Where:
* F is the electric force (in Newtons, N)
* k is Coulomb's constant (approximately 8.98755 × 10⁹ N⋅m²/C²)
* q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges (in Coulombs, C)
* r is the distance between the charges (in meters, m)
2. Convert Units
* Charge:
* 1.5 µC = 1.5 × 10⁻⁶ C
* -5.5 µC = -5.5 × 10⁻⁶ C
* Distance:
* 3.5 cm = 0.035 m
3. Plug Values into Coulomb's Law
* F = (8.98755 × 10⁹ N⋅m²/C²) * (1.5 × 10⁻⁶ C) * (-5.5 × 10⁻⁶ C) / (0.035 m)²
* F ≈ -1.91 N
4. Interpret the Result
* The negative sign indicates that the force is attractive. This makes sense because the glass ball has a positive charge and the rubber has a negative charge, and opposite charges attract.
Therefore, the electric force between the glass ball and the rubber is approximately 1.91 Newtons, and it's an attractive force.
