- #1
Infinitum
- 880
- 40
Hello everyone!
As I understand it, Coulomb's Law gives the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two point charges, in any single medium.
[itex]|F| = \frac{Kq_1q_2}{r^{2}}[/itex]
And for any medium K is [itex]\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon}[/itex]
My question is, how would different mediums in between the charges effect the Coulombic force?
For example, what would the force be if one particle +Q is kept in water, and the other, say -Q in air? The water surface ending at half the distance between between them.(please see attachment)
Surely the [itex]\epsilon[/itex] won't be the same for this case, as for only water, or only air.
I've referred quite a few books, but they don't explain this kind of situation.
As I understand it, Coulomb's Law gives the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two point charges, in any single medium.
[itex]|F| = \frac{Kq_1q_2}{r^{2}}[/itex]
And for any medium K is [itex]\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon}[/itex]
My question is, how would different mediums in between the charges effect the Coulombic force?
For example, what would the force be if one particle +Q is kept in water, and the other, say -Q in air? The water surface ending at half the distance between between them.(please see attachment)
Surely the [itex]\epsilon[/itex] won't be the same for this case, as for only water, or only air.
I've referred quite a few books, but they don't explain this kind of situation.