Coulomb’s Law Remote Lab Electric Forces

(This‌‌lesson‌is designed ‌for‌‌a‌‌student‌‌working‌remotely‌.)‌

This lab uses the Coulomb’s Law simulation from PhET Interactive Simulations at University of
Colorado Boulder, under the CC-BY 4.0 license.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/wave-interference/latest/wave-interference_en.html

Note about prior learning: Students should have completed Balloons and Static Electricity and John
Travoltage Remote lab or lessons with similar learning goals.

Learning Goals: Students will be able to

A. Determine what makes a force attractive or repulsive
B. Explain Newton's third law for electrostatic forces
C. Relate the electrostatic force magnitude to the charges and the distance between them
D. Use measurements to determine Coulomb’s constant

Review your understanding:

1. Two balloons were rubbed on a sweater like in the Balloons and Static Electricity and then hung like in
the picture below. Explain why you think they move apart and what might affect how far apart they
will be.
Los globos se separan porque frotarlos se cargan negativamente, lo que
hace que estos se repelen entre ellos. Y esos se separan debido a las fuerzas
que ejercen las cargas.
La electricidad estática es un fenómeno que se debe a la acumulación de
cargas eléctricas en un objeto esta acumulación puede dar lugar a una
descarga eléctrica cuando dicho objeto se pone en contacto con otro.
En conclusión se repelen(-) o se atraen(+) según la carga.

Develop your understanding:

2. Open the Macro Scale screen and explore the forces between two charged bodies.

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Explain your understanding:

3. By experiment, determine what makes a force attractive or repulsive. Describe your experiments and
observations with some examples.

En esta simulación utilizamos los

siguientes valores:
Carga 1: -9µ
Carga 2: 10µ
Con estas cargas podemos observar
que se genera una fuerza de
atracción, y podemos ver las fuerzas
que ejerce la q1 sobre q2 y q2 sobre
q1.

En el siguiente ejemplo podemos

ver que debido a que las cargas son
negativas genera una fuerza de
repulsión. Aquí observamos que q1
genera una fuerza de 2201.033N
sobre q2, y q2 genera la misma
fuerza sobre q1.

4. What evidence do you see that Newton's third law applies to electrostatic forces?

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 Entonces como podemos observar en las
simulaciones anteriores las fuerzas que
generan las cargas son del mismo valor,
pero en dirección contraria.

5. How does the value of the electrostatic force vary with the value of the charges?
La fuerza electrostática varía dependiendo del valor de q1 y q2 y de la constante k.
N m2
9
K=9,10
c2
Esta ley toma en cuenta la intersección entre dos cargas puntuales al mismo tiempo y determinar la fuerza
que existe entre q1 y q2.

6. How does the value of the electrostatic force vary with the distance between them?

Use your understanding:

7. Coulomb’s equation is used for determining the force between 2 charged bodies separated by a distance

The variables are k (Coulomb’s constant), q (charge of body in Coulombs, C), r (distance between bodies
in meters), and F (electrostatic force in Newton, N)

a. Use measurements to determine Coulomb’s constant for at least 2 situations. Show your work and
include an image of experiments. Verify your value with research and include citations.

b. Using your value of k, determine the electrostatic force for these 2 situations:

i. -4µC charge is 3cm from a 5µC charge.

ii. An electron has a charge of -1.6x10-19C and a proton has a charge of 1.6x10-19C. In a
hydrogen atom, the distance between them is 5.3x10-11m. Determine the electrostatic
force between them.

c. Open the full Coulomb’s Law simulation to check your work. Describe how you used the
simulation and include images for support.

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8. Explain how electric forces are like gravitation forces and how they differ.

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