Electric Field charge calculation

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the electric force between two protons separated by a specific distance, as well as exploring hypothetical scenarios involving the electromagnetic force and its comparison to gravitational force. The subject area includes concepts from electrostatics and electric fields.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the formula for electric force and share their calculations. Some express uncertainty about the correctness of their results and the formatting of equations. Others introduce hypothetical scenarios involving large quantities of electrons and their potential effects on gravitational forces.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants sharing their calculations and questioning the validity of their results. There is exploration of different interpretations regarding the implications of electromagnetic forces compared to gravity, as well as the feasibility of manipulating large quantities of charge.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working within the constraints of homework guidelines, which may limit the depth of exploration into the theoretical implications of their questions. There is also mention of potential misunderstandings regarding the nature of charge and its containment.

Brad_1234
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Hi

This is a homework question, but I am trying to see if I've got the format correct. Two protons are separated by 3.80 x 10-10m. Find the electric force exerted by one proton on the other

...... |q1||q2|
So I've got Fe =.. ke ------------
...... r^2

Im told the proton charge is +1.6021917 x 10-19

so...... 2.5667E-38
...ke * .. -------------
...... 1.444 E-19

then... ke * 1.7775 E -19

then 1.5979 E-9 as the final answer?

Is there some way to write equations and allow whitespace?
 
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Brad_1234 said:
Hi

This is a homework question, but I am trying to see if I've got the format correct. Two protons are separated by 3.80 x 10-10m. Find the electric force exerted by one proton on the other

...... |q1||q2|
So I've got Fe =.. ke ------------
...... r^2

Im told the proton charge is +1.6021917 x 10-19

so...... 2.5667E-38
...ke * .. -------------
...... 1.444 E-19

then... ke * 1.7775 E -19

then 1.5979 E-9 as the final answer?

Is there some way to write equations and allow whitespace?

[itex]F = \frac{2.5667E-19}{1.444E-19}[/itex]

Okay I wrote this by typing this: [ itex ] F = \frac{2.5667E-19}{1.444E-19} [ /itex ] (take out the spaces in the tags with the square brackets.)

[tex]F_{total} = K_e \frac{Q_1 Q_2}{r^2}[/tex]

This was written with this:[ tex ] F_{total} = K_e \frac{Q_1 Q_2}{r^2} [ /tex ] (again take out the spaces)
 
Last edited:
Hey that's too cool [itex]F_{total} = K_e \frac{q_1 q_2}{r^2}[/itex]

its not working on preview, anyone know if the result is correct?

also, would 15 pounds of electrons have enough field energy to support the mass of the earth? It calculates out to be many times more, but if that's the case? batteries can still be improved to store more energy

This is my first Physics for electricity/Magnetism course
 
Without doing any equations, I'm pretty sure 15 pounds of electrons would be more than enough to support the Earth. What you mean by support the Earth though, I'm not sure. The electromagnetic force is some 38 orders of magnitude (or thereabouts) stronger than gravity. You would have some problems though:
-How do you get 15 pounds of electrons without any protons
-Given that the electromagnetic force is so strong, how do you contain them, since they will want to repulse each other.
- The overall net charge on the Earth (I'm assuming) is probably very close to zero, so the net force on the Earth is going to be very small.
But yeah, the electromagnetic force is much, much stronger than gravity, its just that in everyday life, almost everything has the same number of positive and negative charges, so it cancels out.
 
One of our questions was 2 people standing at arms length, each has 1% excess in their body weight of electrons, would there be enough force between them to lift the mass of the earth? or something like that.

I got the result down to Newtons, starting with each person 150lbs, oops I calculated 15lbs but that's 10%? 1.5lbs of excess electrons...

And I figured the distance was 2 meters. taking the weight of electrons, dividing in 15 pounds, got some number then multiplied to get charge then applied the F_e equation with the distance as 2m and it came out to 3.23 E33 Newtons of force or 3.29 E32 kG of force and the Earth weights a mere 6 E24 kG ?

Yes, how to contain the charge. don't know... maybe need particles smaller than an electron that have even stronger bonds to make a container. Arent radioactive materials extra heavy because they have too many electrons? What would it take to order the electrons back to the nucleus?
 

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