Question

Two grains of dust in a protoplanetary disk each have a mass of 1.05×10-21 kg, but one has one extra electron and the other is missing an electron, resulting in an attractive electric force.

a.) Sketch the situation described above. Make your drawing large and clear. Include in your sketch EACH of the variables identified in the box below. DO make it clear how they relate to each other, and that you understand the problem context. You need not waste time making this a photo-realistic image!

b.) How close do they have to be for the acceleration of the positively charged grain due to the electric force to be 1.00×10-2 m/s2 ?

Identify Variables and Constants. Write “?” if the value is initially unknown.

Symbol   Description Value Units

   = mass of either dust grain = 1.05×10-21 kg

= charge on dust grain #1 = +1.6022×10-19 C

= charge on dust grain #2 = -1.6022×10-19 C

= acceleration of grain #1 = 1.00×10-2 m/s2

    = distance between dust grain #1 and dust grain #2 = ? m

Answer 1

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