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General Science • PhysicsMedium

According to Coulomb's law, if the distance between two stationary point charges is halved, the electrostatic force between them will:

A. decrease by a factor of 4
B. increase by a factor of 2
C. increase by a factor of 4✓ Correct Answer
D. remain unchanged

💡 Solution & Explanation

Coulomb's law states that electrostatic force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating two point charges. Halving the distance reduces the denominator by a factor of four, causing the electrostatic force to increase by a factor of four. Understanding inverse-square relationships is fundamental for solving numerical problems in general science.

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