Question

The distance between a proton and an electron is cut in half. How does the force of attraction change? A) The force becomes twice as much. B) The force becomes one-half as much. C) The force becomes four times as much. D) The force becomes one-quarter as much.

Answer 1

Answer: The force becomes four times as much

The electric force is a force that is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This can be proved by Coulomb's Law, which states:

"The electrostatic force $F_{E}$ between two point charges $q_{1}$ and $q_{2}$ is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance $d$ that separates them, and has the direction of the line that joins them"

Mathematically this law is written as:

$F_{E}= K\frac{q_{1}.q_{2}}{d^{2}}$    (1)

Where $K$ is a proportionality constant.

Now, if we say $q_{1}$ is the proton and $q_{2}$ is the electron, and cut the distance between them in half, the new distance will be $\frac{d}{2}$.

Substituting this new distance in equation (1):

$F_{E}= K\frac{q_{1}.q_{2}}{(\frac{d}{2})^{2}}$   (2)

$F_{E}= 4K\frac{q_{1}.q_{2}}{d^{2}}$     (3)>>>As we can see, the force becomes four times stronger

Answer 2

Answer:

The Answer Is C

Explanation: