Coulomb’s Law: How Charges Attract and Repel

Coulomb’s Law describes how electric charges push or pull on each other.
Like charges—two positives or two negatives—repel, while opposite charges attract.
The force depends on the size of the charges: bigger charges mean stronger forces.
Distance matters—the closer the charges, the stronger the force between them.
The law follows an inverse-square rule: doubling the distance makes the force four times weaker.
Coulomb’s constant, 𝑘, sets the strength of electric forces in the universe.
The equation looks like gravity’s law, but charges can both repel and attract, unlike mass.
This law explains why electrons stay near protons inside atoms.
Static electricity shocks are tiny real-life demonstrations of Coulomb’s Law.
From molecules bonding to lightning strikes, Coulomb’s Law is at work everywhere.