Question

Beta = kQ₁Q₂/mgl²

The lab experiment page says. "The experiment needs values of Beta near unity."

mg is the magnitude of the force of gravity on the ball; kQ₁Q₂/mgl² is approximately the magnitude of the Coulomb force on the ball (since the distance between the balls is going to be somewhere close to the length of the pendulum). Beta is the ratio of those two force strengths. Why does the experiment need the magnitude these forces to be fairly near each other? What would happen if one force was much larger than the other, so that beta was not near 1?

Answer 1

i presume that the experiiment takes into consideration the state of equillibrium of the body due to gravtational force and electrostatic force

so for the forces to ballance each other they shlouldd be equal and opposite

which would need beta to be equal to 1