Question

There are two identical, positively charged conducting spheres fixed in space. The spheres are 34.8 cm apart (center to center) and repel each other with an electrostatic force of ?1=0.0675 N . A thin conducting wire connects the spheres, redistributing the charge on each sphere. When the wire is removed, the spheres still repel, but with a force of ?2=0.115 N . The Coulomb force constant is ?=1/(4??0)=8.99×109 N⋅m2/C2 .

Using this information, find the initial charge on each sphere, ?1 and ?2, if ?1 is initially less than ?2 .

Answer 1

As we know from coulomb law , the electrostatic force between two point charges is F=kq1q2/r² . Since here the force is repulsive , both charges will either be positive or negetive.