Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's law, or Coulomb's inverse square law, is a law of physics describing?

the electrostatic inyeraction between electrically charged particles

What is Coulomb's Law equation? Explain each variable

F=kq1q2/r^2

F - electric force

K - electric constant = 9 x 10^9 Nm^2 / C^2

q - charge

r - distance between charges

The SI unit for charge is the

Coulomb, C

Coulomb's law can be used to describe what (3 things)?

The forces of attraction between protons and electrons in an atom

The forces of attraction between a cation and anion (also ions and water)

According to Coulomb's Law, what happens when the distance between charges increase?

The force of attraction between the particles decrease

What happens when the distance between charges decreases?

The force of attraction between the particles increases

What happens when the magnitude of the charges increases?

The force of attraction between the particles increases

What happens when the magnitude of the charges decreases?

The force of attraction between the particles decreases

Which has a greater effect on the force of attraction, increasing the magnitude of the charge of oppositely hatted particles or decreasing the distance between the charges? Explain.

Distance has a greater effect on the force of attraction. As the distance between charges increases, the electric force decreases by a factor of 1/r2. For example, if we double the distance between the two electrons, the repulsive force between them would reduce (because it is inverse), and it would go down by a factor of 4 instead of 2 (because of the square).

Explain how Coulomb's law can help explain ionization energy.

Coulomb's law explains the relationship between distance, magnitude of charge, and force of attraction oppositely charged particles. The greater the force of attraction between a negative electron and the positive nucleus of an atom the greater the amount of energy required to separate them, thus greater ionization energy.

The element with the highest ionization energy

Helium