This electric force calculator will enable you to determine the repulsive or attractive force between two static charged particles. Continue reading to get a better understanding of Coulomb's law, the conditions of its validity, and the physical interpretation of the obtained result.
Coulomb's law, otherwise known as Coulomb's inverse-square law, describes the electrostatic force acting between two charges. The force acts along the shortest line that joins the charges. It is repulsive if both charges have the same sign and attractive if they have opposite signs. Coulomb's law is formulated as follows: F = keq₁q₂/r²where:
Simply input any three values into our electric force calculator to obtain the fourth as a result. To compute the electric potential at a point either due to a single point charge or a system of point charges, check out our electric potential calculator.
The unit of electric charge is a Coulomb (symbol: C). It is defined as the charge that is transported by a constant current of 1 ampere during 1 second. Hence, 1 C = 1 A * 1 s expressed in SI units. If you don't remember what an ampere is, head to our Ohm's law calculator.
Three main conditions must be fulfilled for the electrostatic force calculator to return valid values:
Force obtained with the help of our Coulomb's law calculator can be either positive or negative. Positive force implies a repulsive interaction between the charges. Negative force means that the interaction is attractive. Did you notice that the default unit for charge in our Coulomb's law calculator is a nanoCoulomb (nC)? It is because the typical order of magnitude of an electric charge is 10-6 C or even 10-9 C. Interested in electricity? Check out our electricity cost calculator, too! |