Question

Is the force acting between two point charges?

Answer 1

1. According to the Coulomb's like charges repel each other; unlike charges attract.
2. Coulomb’s law can be given as “The electrical force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two objects.
3. If two-point charges $$q_1$$and $$q_2$$separated by a distance $r.$ Let $F$ be the electrostatic force between these two Charges. According to coulomb's law
   $$F\alpha q_1{q}_2\text{and}F\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{1}{r^2}}$$
   $$F_e={\displaystyle \frac{K{q}_1{q}_2}{r^2}}$$.
4. Nature of the force acting between the charges $q_1$ and $q_2$ are attractive and repulsive forces.
5. When the product of two charges is positive, the charges cancel each other out. That is to say, both charges are like charges.
6. When the product of charges is negative, the charges are attracted to one another and have the opposite sign.

Hence, the force acting between two point charges is given by Coulomb’s law and can be attractive and repulsive forces.