Charge or Distance Precedence?

[Angel Shen 1E]

Hi,

When evaluating the strength of electrostatic interactions between particles, which factor has a greater influence: the magnitude of the charges or the distance between them? Also, does this relation apply to the coulombic attraction or the interaction potential energy equation, and can someone explain the difference between the two?

[Jayden Lee 2F]

Hello !

Distance tends to matter more than the magnitude of the charges because the strength of the electrostatic interaction drops off quickly as distance increases (since its an inverse-square relationship). This applies to both Coulombic attraction and potential energy equations, but heres the difference: Coulombic attraction is literally js the force pulling opposite charges together, while interaction potential energy tells you how stable/"stuck" they are because of that attraction. So basically ones about the force, and the others about how locked in the particles are due to that force. Hope this helped !