Question

Rocket observations show that dust particles in Earth's upper atmosphere are often electrically charged.

(a) Find the distance separating two dust particles (in m) if each has a charge of +e and the Coulomb force between them has magnitude 1.05 ✕ 10⁻¹⁴ N.

answer in  m

(b) Calculate the mass (in kg) of one of the dust particles if this Coulomb force would accelerate it at 3.30 ✕ 10⁸ m/s². (In the upper atmosphere, effects from other nearby charges typically result in a small net force and acceleration.)

answer in kg

Answer 1

A)Each dust particle has a charge of +e and the force between 2 dust particles is 1.05 X .

From coulombs law we know that force between 2 charged particles is given by

where epsilon ( ) is given by 8.85 x

Q = 1.6 X

F = 1.05 X

substitue the values in the above equation and solve for R (Which is the distance between the 2 charged dust particles)

so

Substituting and takng square root we get

R= 1.48 X METERS

B) Acceleration due to force = 3.38 x m/

using newtons second law of motion we can say that F=MASS X ACCELERATION

hence MASS = FORCE / ACCELERATION

= 1.05 X / 3.3 X

= 0.318 X kg