Calculating point charges and ratio of electrostatic force to weight

[zooboodoo]

Homework Statement

Measurements show that a honeybee in active flight can acquire an electrostatic charge on the order of 93 pC.

a)How many electrons much be transferred to produce this charge?
Ne = *
b) Supposing two bees, both with this charge, are separated by a distance of 12 cm. What is the magnitude of the electrostatic force between the these two bees? (You may treat the bees as point charges.)
FE= N *
5.399e-9 OKc) What is ratio of this electrostatic force to the weight of 0.14 gm bee?
FE/Fweight =
3.783e-7 NO

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I got through the first two parts, but in order to calculate the ratio of the electro static force to the weight I simply tried Fe/Fweight, 5.39e-9 / .00014 = 3.856e-13
Is there a specific relationship between the forces that I should know before trying to proceed?
thanks

 

[turin]

Is there a specific relationship between the forces that I should know before trying to proceed?

Nope. They are completely different kinds of force (except for the fact that, in freshman physics, they both obey the inverse square law).

 

[thomate1]

for the help



Hello!

First, let's address the calculation for the number of electrons that must be transferred to produce a charge of 93 pC. The charge of an electron is typically represented as e = 1.6 x 10^-19 C. Therefore, to produce a charge of 93 pC, we can use the following equation:

93 pC = (Ne)(1.6 x 10^-19 C)

Solving for Ne, we get:

Ne = 93 pC / (1.6 x 10^-19 C) = 5.81 x 10^17 electrons

Now, for the electrostatic force between the two bees, we can use Coulomb's Law:

FE = (k * q1 * q2) / d^2

Where k is the Coulomb's constant (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2), q1 and q2 are the charges of the two bees (both 93 pC), and d is the distance between them (12 cm = 0.12 m). Plugging in the values, we get:

FE = (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (93 x 10^-12 C) * (93 x 10^-12 C) / (0.12 m)^2 = 5.399 x 10^-9 N

For the ratio of this electrostatic force to the weight of the bee, we can simply divide the electrostatic force by the weight of the bee (0.14 g = 0.00014 kg). Therefore, we get:

FE/Fweight = (5.399 x 10^-9 N) / (0.00014 kg) = 3.856 x 10^-5

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions. Keep up the good work in your studies!