Question

Discuss about following:

1. what experiment Coulomb did to postulate Coulomb's law?

2. Write the similarities and differences between Newton's law of gravitation and Coulomb's law.

3. what technology you use today is based on coulomb's law.

Answer 1

1) In 1785 Augustin de Coulomb investigated the attractive and repulsive forces between charged objects,
experimentally formulating what is now referred to as Coulomb's Law. Coulomb measured the force between
the objects,in the form of small metal coated balls, by using a "coulomb's torsion balance".

2) The similarities between coulomb's law and newton's law of gravitation:

i) Both law defined force: Coulomb's law defined the force between charges and whereas the newton's law of gravitation is force between masses.

ii) Both are inverse square law: The force are inversely proportional to the square of the distances between charge in case of coulomb's law and two masses of gravitation in newton's law of gravitation.

iii) The force defined by both law are central forces.

iv) Both forces are conservative force.

3) Coulomb's Law has a great many applications to modern life, from Xerox machines to laser printers, to powder coating.