Coulomb’s law for electrostatic force between two point charges and Newton’s law for gravitational force between two stationary point masses, both have inverse-square dependence on the distance between the charges and masses respectively. (a) Compare the strength of these forces by determining the ratio of their magnitudes (i) for an electron and a proton and (ii) for two protons. (b) Estimate the accelerations of electron and proton due to the electrical force of their mutual attraction when they are `1Å (=10^(-10)m)` apart? (mp = `1.67 xx 10^(-27) kg, me = 9.11 xx 10^(-31) kg)`.

Explanation

(a) (i) `|(F_(e))/(F_(G))|=2.4xx10^(39)`
(ii) `|(F_(e))/(F_(G))|=1.3xx10^(36)`
(b) `a_(e)=(e^(2))/(4pi epsilon_(0)r^(2)m_(e))=2.5xx10^(22)m//s^(2),a_(p)=(e^(2))/(4pi epsilon_(0)r^(2)m_(p))=1.4xx10^(19)m//s^(2)`