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Coulomb's Law Lab

1) The document describes an experiment investigating Coulomb's Law and the relationship between the force F between two point charges and their distance of separation r. 2) Data was collected for F and r over eight trials and graphed with F on the y-axis and 1/r^2 on the x-axis, revealing an inverse proportional relationship as predicted by Coulomb's Law. 3) From the data and Coulomb's equation, the constant k was calculated to be 5.76 × 1017 Nm2 C-2, verifying Coulomb's Law.

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Leah Cassie
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127 views3 pages

Coulomb's Law Lab

1) The document describes an experiment investigating Coulomb's Law and the relationship between the force F between two point charges and their distance of separation r. 2) Data was collected for F and r over eight trials and graphed with F on the y-axis and 1/r^2 on the x-axis, revealing an inverse proportional relationship as predicted by Coulomb's Law. 3) From the data and Coulomb's equation, the constant k was calculated to be 5.76 × 1017 Nm2 C-2, verifying Coulomb's Law.

Uploaded by

Leah Cassie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: Leah Cassie

Lab #: 4
Date: November 1, 2022
Title: Coulomb’s Law
Aim: To investigate the relationship between the force, F, between two point charges and their
distance of separation, r.
Apparatus: ruler, two point charges +3 μC and -2 μC
Diagram:

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE LABORATORY SETUP OF TWO POINT CHARGES


SEPARATED BY A DISTANCE OF 5CM

Method:
1. The values of the point charges were set at +3 μC and -2 μC.
2. The boxes were then checked to show force values by using scientific notation.
3. The point charges were placed at a distance, r = 5.0 cm apart and the force, F, was
recorded between them.
4. The previous step was repeated for a total of 8 sets of values for r and F.
1
5. The results obtained were tabulated including values for r2 and 2 .
r
1
6. Next, a graph of F against 2 was plotted, where a value for “k” was determined in the
r
equation for Coulomb’s Law.
Data Analysis:
TABLE SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FORCE AND DISTANCE AS
THE DISTANCE IS INCREASED AND THE DISTANCE SQUARED AND ITS INVERSE
Force, F in N r in 10 -2 m r2 in 10 -4 m2 1
2 in 10 m
4 -2
r
2.16 × 101 = 21.6 5 52 = 25 1 1
2 = = 0.04
5 25
1.50 × 101 = 15.0 6 62 = 36 1 1
2 = = 0.03
6 36
1.10 × 101 = 11.0 7 72 = 49 1 1
2 = = 0.02
7 49
8.43 8 82 = 64 1 1
2 = = 0.02
8 64
6.66 9 92 = 81 1 1
2 = = 0.01
9 81
5.39 10 102 = 100 1 1
2 = =
10 100
0.01
3.37 × 101 = 33.7 4 42 = 16 1 1
2 = = 0.06
4 16
5.99 × 101 = 59.9 3 32 = 9 1 1
= = 0.11
32 9

Calculating gradient, m:
y 2− y
m=
1

x2− x1

60−11
m= 4 4
(0.010 ×10 )−( 0.024 ×10 )
49
m=
100−240
49
m=
−1 40
m = -0.35 Nm -2
k ×Q 1 ×Q
Coulomb’s Equation : F = 2
2

r
Let F = 21.6 and r = 400 m2 and use point charges 3 × 10 -6 and -2 × 10 -6
−6 −6
k ×3 ×10 × 2× 10
21.6 = 2
400
21.6 × 4002 = k (3 × 2 × 10 -12)
3,456,000 = 6 × 10 -12 k
3,456,000
=k
6 ×10−12
5.76 × 1017 Nm2 C -2 = k
:. The value of k is 5.76 × 1017 Nm2 C -2

Discussion:
Coulomb’s Law states that the force of attraction or repulsion between two point charges is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This law was investigated as
an aim for this experiment where the two point charges used were +3 μC and -2 μC, set at an
initial distance of 5cm where the force was recorded. The distance between the two point charges
were then increased and decreased to produce a total of 8 readings where the force for each was
recorded. Based on the results obtained and the graph plotted to show the relationship of force
with the squared inverse of the distance between the charges, r, it was concluded that the force is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two point charges in metres. For
1 1
instance, at a force of 11.0 N, 2 was 0.02 and at a force of 21.6 N, 2 was 0.04. The value for
r r
Coulomb’s constant, k, was calculated to be 5.76 × 1017 Nm2 C -2 by using the formula F =
k ×Q1 ×Q
2
2
. One possible source of error is that the distance between the point charges were
r
recorded incorrectly which would provide inaccurate results in investigating the aim of
determining the relationship of the force between two point charges separated by a set distance.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the relationship between the force and the distance r between two point
charges was that the Force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them,
as shown by the graph plotted from the results obtained from the experiment.

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