How is Coulomb's law different than Newton's law of gravitation?
1 Answer
Jun 8, 2014
In Coulomb's Law the electrostatic force may be positive or negative. In Newton's Law of Gravitation the force is always negative.
A positive force in these contexts indicates a force that is repulsive and a negative force is attractive. Thus gravitational forces are always attractive. The sign of the force from Coulomb's Law depends on the signs of the two charges. Opposite charges will return a negative force (attractive); like charges will return a positive force (repulsive).
