Answer to Question #129494 in Electricity and Magnetism for Sohail Ahmad

Question

if one sphere has a mass of 2 kg in electric charge power 4 microcoulomb while another sphere 3 metres away is a mass of 1 kg in electric charge of 5 microcoulomb what is the acceleration of the more massive sphere

Answer 1

The expression for the electrostatic force between two charges is

$F=\frac{kq_1q_2}{r^2}=\frac{(9*10^9)(4*10^{-6})(5*10^{-6})}{(3)^2}$

$=0.02 N$

So the acceleration of the more massive sphere is

$a=\frac{F}{m}=\frac{0.02 N}{2 kg}=0.01 m/s^2$