The discussion centers on the application of Coulomb's Law in the context of a moving test charge Q in the presence of a stationary source charge q. It establishes that while the source charge remains fixed, resulting in a static electric field, the force experienced by the test charge varies with its position rather than time. Consequently, Coulomb's Law does not incorporate a time parameter, as the force is determined solely by the spatial relationship between the charges at any given moment.
PREREQUISITESPhysics students, educators, and professionals in electromagnetism, particularly those interested in the dynamics of charge interactions and electric field behavior.
akhila_k said:The force on a test charge Q due to source charge q, depends on both their velocities in addition to several other quantities. For electrostatics, the source charge is at rest (its velocity is zero) but the test charge may be moving. Then how does Coulomb's Law accommodate for this velocity of the test charge?
The force is a function of position, not time. If you measure the force at point A, move the charge to point B, bring it back to A some time later and remeasure, the force on the charge will have the value that you measured earlier.akhila_k said:If the force is time varying, why doesn't time parameter appear in Coulomb's law? Or Coulomb's law give the force at what time point in test charge's motion?