Charge It! Charges and Magnets

Example 1: The force of 1 Coulomb

The Question:

How much force in Newtons is there between two positively charged objects separated by 1 meter. Each has a net charge of 1 C.

The Answer:

This is not a hard problem, but it sets the scale for just how outrageous a Coulomb of charge actually is. Of course we’ll use Coulomb’s law, namely:

F=k\frac{QQ}{R^2}= 9 \times 10^9 \frac{(1)(1)}{1^2} = 9 \times 10^9 \text{ Newtons}