Question Detail
Question
To avoid sign confusion when calculating the magnitude of the electric force between two point charges (q₁ and q₂), which form of Coulomb's Law is suggested by some authors?
Correct Answer
Option B is the correct answer.
Detailed Explanation
Page 1 states: 'To try to avoid sign confusion, some authors write the law as F=k|q₁||q₂|/r²'. This form ensures that the calculated force is always positive, representing a magnitude, regardless of the signs of the individual charges.
Hint
Consider how absolute values affect the sign of the result in a calculation. The goal is to obtain a positive magnitude for the force.