Question

What are electrical forces and their characteristics?

Answer 1

Definition

1. The repulsive or attractive interaction between any two charged bodies is called an electric force.
2. The electric force between two electrons is equal to the electric force between two protons when placed at equal distances.

Formula:

$\overrightarrow{F}=K\frac{q_0{q}_1}{r^2}\hat{r}$

Here,

$\overrightarrow{F}$ is the electric force-directed between two charged bodies.

$\mathrm{K}$ is the constant of proportionality.

${\mathrm{q}}_0$ and ${\mathrm{q}}_1$ are the amounts of charge on each body.

$\mathrm{r}$ is the distance between the charged bodies.

$\hat{\mathrm{r}}$ is the variable unit vector.

Examples of electric force

1. The charge in a bulb.
2. Static friction between cloth when rubbed by a dryer.
3. The shock that is felt after touching a doorknob.

Characteristics of electrical forces

1. Like charges repel each other; unlike charges attract. Thus, two negative charges repel one another, while a positive charge attracts a negative charge.
2. The size of the force varies inversely as the square of the distance between the two charges.

Therefore, electrical force is the attractive or repulsive interaction between any two charged objects.