The force between charged and neutral object

[Aldo Biko]

Homework Statement

I did a lab involving Van de Graaff generator. Basically, below the charged sphere, I put a neutral sphere on a scale and measure the difference in mass which then I can calculate the force acting on the neutral sphere. I repeated the experiment with different distance. What is the proportionality between the force and the distance? One of the tutor said the force is proportional to 1/r^5 but he didn't explain much about it.

Homework Equations

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The Attempt at a Solution

I know that from coulomb law that the force is proportional to 1/r^2. However I can only use this equation to calculate the force between two charged objects, while my experiment is about the force between a charged and a neutral object.

 

[kuruman]

Suppose F = k/rⁿ. You can certainly write F₁=k/r₁ⁿ and F₂=k/r₂ⁿ. Can you put these two equations together with the forces and distances that you measured and find k and n? An accurate determination might be difficult with just two measurements, but if that's all you got, it will have to do.

 

[haruspex]

Don't know if this works, but you could try considering instead two small conductors, lined up with the charged sphere, connected by a short thin wire. These would form a dipole from the induced charges. You might obtain an r^-5 relationship in that model.

Edit: it does indeed produce that relationship.