Skip to Content Go to sign in Skip to Primary Navigation Skip to Secondary Navigation Skip to Page Navigation Skip to Header Navigation Skip to Footer Navigation Read more about accessability options and our navigation

Physics Classroom is making strides to make our site accessible to everyone. Our site contains 6 navigation areas. The Primary, Secondary, and Page Level navigations have a screen reader version of their nav structure that allows using the left and right keys to navigate sibling navigation items, and up or down keys to navigate parent or child navigation items. The others can be navigated using tabs. The Primary Navigation handles the first 2 levels of site pages. The Secondary (which is not always available) handles the 3rd and 4th level of structure. The Page level navigation allows you to navigate the current page's headings quickly. The Header Navigation contains the Light/Dark Mode toggle, Search, Notifications and account login. The Breadcrumb Navigation contains the breadcrumb of the current page. If the current page has a breadcrumb, you can get to it by skipping to the content and tabbing in reverse (shift plus tab). The Footer Navigation contains links such as Privacy, Contact, about and terms. Some resources contain an Audio Player that can be activated by holding down the T key for 3 seconds, and then using K to pause and resume. While not every area of Physics Classroom is usable purely from keyboard and screen reader, we are committed to continue work on making this possible. If you have questions or need additional help, please use this link to contact us.

Return to screen reader navigation

Coulomb's Law Notes

Notes:

The Coulomb's Law Interactive is an adjustable-size file that displays nicely on smart phones, on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on laptops and desktops. The size of the Interactive can be scaled to fit the device that it is displayed on. The compatibility with smart phones, iPads, other tablets, and Chromebooks make it a perfect tool for use in a 1:1 classroom.

Teaching Ideas and Suggestions:

This Interactive is intended for use near the early stages of a learning cycle on Coulomb's law. The Interactive provides a perfect environment for investigating the effect of one variable upon another variable. The amount of charge on each of the two objects and the distance that separates them can be easily changed. Each square on the background grid of the simulation is intended to be 1.0 meter along its edge. The simulation allows learners to explore the direct proportionality between the force and the amount of charge on either of the objects. Learners can also explore the inverse square relationship between force and separation distance. The separation distance is defined here as the distance between the centers of the two charges.

Many students would benefit from simply launching this Interactive and exploring on their own. For those teachers who wish for a more guided experience, The Physics Classroom has prepared an activity for use with this Interactive. The activity involves two challenges. The first challenge involves manipulating charge values in order to collect data that identifies the mathematical relationship between the electrostatic force and the quantity of charge on the two objects. The second challenge involves altering the separation distance in order to determine the relationship between the electrostatic force and the separation distance. View Activity.

If you have other ideas or even activities that can be used with this Interactive, we'd loe to hear about them. Please share your ideas on our social media websites:
 


Try our simulation. And when you're done, follow it up with our Concept Checker to see how well you learned the concept.

Related Resources:

There are numerous resources at The Physics Classroom website that serve as very complementary supports for the Coulomb's Law Interactive. These include:
  • Minds On Physics Internet Modules:
    The Minds On Physics Internet Modules include a collection of interactive questioning modules that help learners assess their understanding of physics concepts and solidify those understandings by answering questions that require higher-order thinking. Assignments SE8 and SE9 of the Static Electricity module provide great complements to this Interactive. They are best used in the middle to later stages of the learning cycle. Visit the Minds On Physics Internet Modules.

     
  • Curriculum/Practice: Several Concept Development worksheets at the Curriculum Corner will be very useful in assisting students in cultivating their understanding, most notably ...

    Charge
    Charge Interactions
    Coulomb's Law

    Visit the Curriculum Corner.

     
  • Labwork:
    Simulations should always support (never supplant) hands-on learning. The Laboratory section of The Physics Classroom website includes several hands-on ideas that complement this Interactive. One notable lab idea includes ...

    Coulomb's Law Lab

    Visit The Laboratory.

Additional resources and ideas for incorporating Coulombs' Law into an instructional unit on electrostatics can be found at the Teacher Toolkits section of The Physics Classroom website. Visit Teacher Toolkits.

NEWOur Coulomb's Law simulation is now available with a Concept Checker. Do the simulation. Then follow it up with the Concept Checker.

Visit: Coulomb's Law Interactive

Return to Screen Reader Navigation