Charge vs. Gravity: Calculating Electrostatic to Gravitational Force Ratio

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The discussion focuses on calculating the ratio of electrostatic force to gravitational force between two electrons, yielding a result of approximately 3.9889 x 10^42. The user initially used the formula F = kqq/r^2 for electrostatic force but noted that their textbook provided a different formula involving electric fields and magnetic fields. They also sought clarification on the notation in the mass and charge values of the electron from Wikipedia. Additional comments pointed out discrepancies in gravitational constant values, leading to varying results, with one user suggesting a recalculated value of 4.17 x 10^42. The overall consensus is that the method used is correct, despite some confusion over constants.
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Calculate the ratio of the electrostatic force to the gravitational force between two electrons.

My effort:
<br /> \begin{array}{l}<br /> \frac{{\left( {\frac{{kq_{electron}^2 }}{{r^2 }}} \right)}}{{\left( {\frac{{GM_{electron}^2 }}{{r^2 }}} \right)}} \Rightarrow \\ <br /> \\ <br /> \frac{{kq_{electron}^2 }}{{GM_{electron}^2 }} = \frac{{8.988 \times 10^9 Nm^2 C^{ - 2} \times \left( { - 1.60217653 \times 10^{ - 19} C} \right)^2 }}{{6.97 \times 10^{ - 11} Nm^2 kg^{ - 2} \times \left( {9.10953826 \times 10^{ - 31} kg} \right)^2 }} = 3.9889 \times 10^{42} \\ <br /> \end{array}<br />
Sorry for small tex. This should be better:
ge.gif

My units cancel nicely, so I assume I did it right. However, the book doesn't give the formula I used: F=kqq/r^2

It gives
<br /> F = Q\left( {E + v \times B} \right)<br />

Most textbooks give you the formulas you need to do the questions at the end of the chapter. So I figure I'd double check here.

In Wikipedia I looked up the mass and charge of the electron. It gave
9.109 3826(16) × 10−31 kg
−1.602 176 53(14) × 10−19 C
What do the (16) and (14) in these numbers mean?

*** Edit
I'm seeing an answer of 10^36 on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_force
and 10^39 on
http://public.lanl.gov/alp/plasma/EM_forces.html
So I'm a bit less confident about my answer now.
 
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Close but your value for G is too high. G = 6.67x10^11 Nm^2/kg^2. I get 4.17x10^42
Your approach and method is correct.

AM
 
Thanks for catching that. I thought I had that memorized.
 
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