Yikes! i'm stuck, help please!

Question

Which of the following is an example of the electrostatic force acting in an atom?
A. A neutron repelling an electron

B. A neutron repelling another neutron

C. An electron repelling a proton

D. A proton repelling another proton

Answer 1

Amanda, let's use a process of elimination to figure this out...
A. Neutrons (like the name suggests) are neutrally charged, meaning no net positive or negative charge, so there is no electrostatic force.
B. Again, neutrons (like the name suggests) are neutrally charged, meaning no net positive or negative charge, so there is no electrostatic force.
C. Electrons(-) and protons(+) have opposite charges, so they will in fact be attracted to each other NOT repelled, so this is also incorrect.

D. Finally, the proton (+) and proton (+) both with the same sign charge will have a repelling electrostatic force. This is the correct answer.

 

Remember, electrostatic force between two particles is related to the charge of the two particles and inversely related to the square of the distance between the particles. If the charges are the same sign there will be a repulsive force tending to separate the particles, and if the charges are different there will be an attractive force tending to bring the particles together.

see coulombs law F=ke|q1q2|/r^2