Electricity & Magnetism: Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's law states that the magnitude of the electrostatic force $F$ between two point charges $q_1$ and $q_2$ is given by $F = \frac{1}{4\pi\varepsilon_0}\frac{|q_1q_2|}{r^2}$, where $\varepsilon_0$ is the electric constant and $r is the distance between the charges.

The electric constant $\varepsilon_0$ represents the permittivity of free space and appears in Coulomb's law as a proportionality constant. It plays a crucial role in determining the strength of the electrostatic force between two charges.

If the product $q_1q_2$ is positive, the force between the charges is repulsive; if the product is negative, the force between them is attractive.

<p>The electric field at a point is defined as the electric force per unit charge experienced by a test charge placed at that point. It represents the intensity of the electric force at that location.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The electric field is considered an electric property associated with each point in space where a point charge is present. It provides information about the force that would be experienced by a test charge at that point due to the presence of the point charge.</p> Signup and view all the answers