At a distance of 16 m from a charged particle, the electric...

At a distance of $16 \mathrm{~m}$ from a charged particle, the electric field has a magnitude of $100 \mathrm{~N} / \mathrm{C}$. (a) At what distance is the electric field $400 \mathrm{~N} / \mathrm{C} ?$ (b) At what distance is it $10 \mathrm{~N} / \mathrm{C} ?$

Labs

Want to see this concept in action?

NEW

Explore this concept interactively to see how it behaves as you change inputs.

View Labs

Key Concepts

Inverse-Square Law

The inverse-square law describes how the strength of an electric field decreases with the square of the distance from a point charge. Specifically, if the distance is doubled, the field strength becomes one-fourth of its original value. This fundamental relationship is derived from the geometry of space and is common to other force fields, such as gravity.

Proportional Reasoning in Field Calculations

Proportional reasoning involves comparing how changes in distance affect the electric field magnitude through the 1/r^2 relationship. By setting up ratios of known field strengths at given distances, one can calculate the new distance corresponding to a different field magnitude. This method is particularly useful when the specific value of the charge is not required to determine how the field scales with distance.

Electric Field of a Point Charge

The electric field produced by a point charge represents the force per unit charge experienced by a small positive test charge placed in the field. This field is a vector field whose direction points away from the charge if it is positive, and towards it if negative, and its magnitude depends not only on the amount of charge but also on the distance from it.

Transcript

Please give Ace some feedback