History of Coulomb’s Law

French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb has made many significant contributions to our understanding of electrical forces in physics. One of the things he is most popular for is Coulomb’s law. The SI unit for electrical charge is also called Coulomb (written as C) in his honour. There is an entire history of Coulomb’s law to be known. 

These notes on the history of Coulomb’s law will emphasise how the law was formed. They will also shed light on the discoverer. The law will also be discussed with its potential applications. 

Who Proposed Coulomb’s Law?

The history of Coulomb’s law began with Charles Augustin de Coulomb, an officer and engineer born on June 14th, 1736. He graduated from an engineering and military college in 1761 and worked as an engineer and lieutenant in the French military.

Coulomb has been highly regarded for his discovery of the law regarding the electric charges. This law is prominently named and studied as ‘Coulomb’s Law’. Coulomb postulated this law when he was trying to study the law of electrical repulsions by Joseph Priestley. 

Coulomb has been credited for inventing the apparatus of measuring the electrical forces of Priestley’s laws. Moreover, he also gave the law for inverse square attraction. He also provided an explanation for the repulsion between like and unlike poles of a magnet. Apart from all these discoveries, Columb has contributed his knowledge for machinery friction and elasticity concerning silk and metals. 

The prominent figure breathed his last on August 23rd, 1806. At the time of death, Coulomb was 70 years old.

What Is Coulomb’s Law?

As we know the history of Coulomb’s law, we must also know the law. This would help us understand Coulomb’s discovery in detail. 

According to Coulomb’s law, “the electrical force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two objects.”

The law is expressed as the following equation,

F = kQ1Q2/d2

In the equation, 

• Q1 represents the quantity of charge 
• Q2 represents the quantity of charge in the object
• k is the Coulomb’s law constant/ proportionality constant
• d is the separation between two objects

In the law, there is a complete illustration of the force of two objects whenever they behave as point charges. 

Coulomb’s law mentions attraction and repulsion between two forces, much like Newton’s law of gravitation. However, the distinction is that Coulomb’s law focuses more on electric forces. On the other hand, Newton’s law is related to the gravitational forces beneath the earth.

Applications of Coulomb’s Law

After knowing the complete history of Coulomb’s law, it is essential to know where the law can be applied. Below are some points that highlight the applications of Coulomb’s law. 

• Coulomb’s law is applied in Xerox machines. 
• The law is essential in the calculations of force and distance cornering two charges. 
• Coulomb’s law is used for the interpretation and calculation of the electric field. 
• Coulomb’s law is used for interpreting the force on one point when there are several other points existing. 

These are a few of the implications of Coulomb’s law. The law has aided in a better understanding of electric forces and the relation between electric charges. 

Conclusion

Electricity and its electrical forces have been a topic that physics has explored in various manners. Various physicists have devoted themselves to explaining the physics of the world and its components via laws. One such law in the physics world is Coulomb’s law.

Coulomb’s law talks about the relation between two electric charges and also electric forces. The law also has a mathematical equation that is applied in the calculation of the force and distance between two electric charges. Some essential questions on the history of Coulomb’s law are given below.