Calculating Charge Magnitude for Nickel Coin Using Coulomb's Law

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the total charge magnitude of electrons in a nickel coin using Coulomb's Law. A nickel coin weighs approximately 4.3g, containing about 1.245e24 electrons and 4.447e22 atoms. The charge of a Coulomb is defined as 6.24e18 electrons, which is essential for determining the total charge. Participants clarified the relationship between the number of electrons and the charge, emphasizing the need to divide the total number of electrons by the number of electrons per Coulomb to find the charge in Coulombs.

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Homework Statement


A nickel coin has a mass of about 4.3g. Each mole (6.02e23 atoms) has a mass of about 58.2g


Homework Equations


I found the number of electrons on each coin, which is 1.245e24 and also the number of atoms on the coin which is 4.447e22.

The Attempt at a Solution


Now I have to find the magnitude of the charge of all of these electrons. I just started phys part two and need help. I Know that the C constant is, and I think I have to use the F=Q1Q2/r2but I can't come up with the solution
 
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Welcome to PF.

By C I think you mean the units of charge - Coulomb.

The formula you show is for the force between charges separated by a distance.

If you are looking for total charge in C, however, you will want to look up how many electrons makes up a Coulomb.
 
Well, I know that C=6.02 x 10^18 electrons, and I have 1.245 x 10^24 electrons, also the problem states that there are 28 electrons/atom on the nickel coin... would I multiply those?
 
tchounkovskii said:
Well, I know that C=6.02 x 10^18 electrons, and I have 1.245 x 10^24 electrons, also the problem states that there are 28 electrons/atom on the nickel coin... would I multiply those?

You might want to use 6.24*1018 electrons/ Coulomb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb

As to the 28 per atom, didn't you use that already to determine total electrons?
 
yes, that was to find the total electrons
 
tchounkovskii said:
yes, that was to find the total electrons

So if you have total electrons and you know how many are in a Coulomb ...
 
I think i have to multiply but I'm not coming out with the right answer
 
tchounkovskii said:
I think i have to multiply but I'm not coming out with the right answer

If I have 48 eggs, and there are 12 eggs in a dozen, and I wanted to know how many dozen I had, ... I wouldn't be multiplying.
 
Ok, cool...got it thanks
 

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