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Question

The positive mutual potential energy of a system containing two charges corresponds to


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Solution

Potential energy:

The potential energy of charges is the energy that is due to the Coulomb force and varies with the distance between them. The potential energy of a system of 2 charges is U=kq1q2r

q1,q2 are the charges.

r is the distance between the charges .

k is a constant whose value is 9×109Nm2/C2.

  1. The potential energy will come out to be positive when both the charges are of equal signs i.e positive -positive or negative- negative.
  2. We know that opposite sign charges attract and the same charges repel.

Therefore if the potential energy of a system of 2 charges is positive, it means that the charges are of the same nature and repel each other.


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