Answer:
A) 0.83 N B) It is attractive.
Explanation:
A)
- If we remove 3.0*10¹³ electrons from a neutral sphere, this means that the sphere will acquire a positive charge, equal to the total charge removed.
- As each electron carries a charge equal to -e= -1.6*10⁻¹⁹ C, the total charge on the first sphere is as follows:
[tex]Q_{1} = 1.6e-19 C * 3.0e13 electrons = 4.8e-6 C[/tex]
- The second sphere, will acquire an exactly equal charge, but of opposite sign, as there will be a negative net charge on it:
[tex]Q_{2} =( -1.6e-19 C) * 3.0e13 electrons) = -4.8e-6 C[/tex]
- Assuming both spheres can be treated as point charges, the force between them, must obey Coulomb's Law.
- Applying Coulomb's Law to both charged spheres, we can find the magnitude of the force between them as follows:
[tex]F =\frac{k*Q_{1}*Q_{2}}{r^{2} } = \frac{9e9N*m2/C2*(4.8e-6C)^{2}}{(0.5m)^{2} } = 0.83 N[/tex]
- The magnitude of the electrostatic force that acts on each sphere is 0.83N.
B)
- The force is attractive, because after removing negative charge from one sphere, this acquires a positive charge, and as the charge removed from the first sphere is placed on the other, this acquires a negative charge.
- As opposite charges attract each other, the force between both spheres is attractive.
