Question

A student wants to increase the magnetic force between two bar magnets. What should the student do?aMove the magnets farther apart.bMove the magnets closer together.cMake the north poles face each other.dMake the south poles face each other.

Answer 1

A student wants to increase the magnetic force between two magnets. According to Coulomb's law the force between two charges is:

$F=k\frac{q_1q_2}{r^2}$

Where:

$\begin{gathered} F=\text{ force} \\ k=\text{ Coulomb's constnat} \\ q_1,q_1=\text{ charges} \\ r=\text{ distance between the charges} \end{gathered}$

Since the distance is in the denominator this means that the smaller the distance the greater the force. Therefore, to increase the force the student must move the magnets closer together.