Fundamentals of Physics Extended (10th Edition)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 1-11823-072-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-11823-072-5

Chapter 21 - Coulomb's Law - Problems - Page 625: 2

Answer

$\frac{F'}{F} = \frac{3}{8}$

Work Step by Step

Let the initial charge on each sphere be $q$ We can write an expression for the original force between the two spheres: $F = \frac{q^2}{4\pi~\epsilon_0~r^2}$ After sphere 3 touches sphere 1, both sphere 1 and sphere 3 have a charge $\frac{q}{2}$ After sphere 3 touches sphere 2, both sphere 2 and sphere 3 have a charge $\frac{\frac{q}{2}+q}{2} = \frac{3q}{4}$ We can find the new force between the two spheres: $F' = \frac{(\frac{q}{2})(\frac{3q}{4})}{4\pi~\epsilon_0~r^2} = \frac{3}{8}~\frac{q^2}{4\pi~\epsilon_0~r^2}$ We can find $\frac{F'}{F}$: $\frac{F'}{F} = \frac{\frac{3}{8}~\frac{q^2}{4\pi~\epsilon_0~r^2}}{\frac{q^2}{4\pi~\epsilon_0~r^2}} = \frac{3}{8}$
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