2: Conceptual Objective 2


• 2.1: Coulomb’s Law
The superposition principle (superposition property) states that for all linear forces the total force is a vector sum of individual forces.
• 2.2: Charge
Charge is a property of matter. There are two kinds of charge, positive “+” and negative “-”. An object can have positive charge, negative charge, or no charge at all. A particle which has charge causes a force-per-charge-of-would-be-victim vector to exist at each point in the region of space around itself.
• 2.3: Coulomb's Law
Experiments with electric charges have shown that if two objects each have electric charge, then they exert an electric force on each other. The magnitude of the force is linearly proportional to the net charge on each object and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. (Interestingly, the force does not depend on the mass of the objects.) The direction of the force vector is along the imaginary line joining the two objects and is dictated by the signs of the charges.

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