Where would Madison put a negative charge relative to a positive charge in order for it to have the least electrical potential energy? a The distance does not matter, they can put the charged objects anywhere b The objects will need to be moving more closely to each other to have more kinetic energy c Place them as close together as possible d Separate the charged objects about 4 meters away from each other e They will need more charge to get more potential energy

Question

Juicy

Physics

2 February, 11:44

Where would Madison put a negative charge relative to a positive charge in order for it to have the least electrical potential energy? a The distance does not matter, they can put the charged objects anywhere b The objects will need to be moving more closely to each other to have more kinetic energy c Place them as close together as possible d Separate the charged objects about 4 meters away from each other e They will need more charge to get more potential energy

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Answers (1)

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Theresa Torres · Answer 1

c Place them as close together as possible

Explanation:

Electrical potential energy between two opposite charges

= - k Q₁ Q₂ / R,

k is constant, Q₁ and - Q₂ are charges and distance between them is R.

when R is least the magnitude of electrical potential will be least because of negative sign of electrical energy. The minimum value of R will be at situation when they will be as close to each other as possible. Hence third option is the right answer. The value of a negative fraction will be least when denominator will have least value.