Answer
(a) $F = 56.3~N$
(b) The force is 287 times the weight of the sphere.
Work Step by Step
(a) We can find the magnitude of the electric force on each sphere:
$F = \frac{1}{4\pi ~\epsilon_0}\frac{q_1q_2}{r^2}$
$F = \frac{1}{(4\pi)(8.85\times 10^{-12}~C^2/N~m^2)}\frac{(50.0\times 10^{-9}~C)(50.0\times 10^{-9}~C)}{(0.020~m)^2}$
$F = 56.3~N$
(b) We can find the ratio of the force to the weight of one sphere.
$\frac{F}{mg} = \frac{56.3~N}{(0.020~kg)(9.80~m/s^2)} = 287$
The force is 287 times the weight of the sphere.
