Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A student says: "A charge of and a charge of are m apart. The big charge pulls the small one five times harder than the small one pulls the big one." Is she right? Then say what happens to the force on each charge when (a) the distance is doubled, and (b) the charge is doubled.
In a medium the force is divided by the dielectric constant . The force on each charge has the same size, in opposite directions: like charges repel and unlike charges attract.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Is she right? No. By Newton's third law, the force on the small charge and the force on the large charge are equal in size and opposite in direction. In the formula , the force depends on the product . It does not matter which charge we call big. The same force acts on both.
Step 2. Why does it feel unequal? The same force gives a bigger acceleration to the lighter body. That can make the small charge seem to do more of the moving, but the forces are equal.
Step 3. Double the distance. becomes times larger, so the force on each charge becomes a quarter.
Step 4. Double the charge. The product doubles, so the force on each charge doubles.
Watch out. Changing one charge changes the force on both. The force on the charge that you did not change changes too.
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