Living organisms use static electricity-in fact, static electricity plays an imp

Question

Living organisms use static electricity-in fact, static electricity plays an important role in the pollination process. Imagine a bee busily flitting from flower to flower. As air rushes over its body and wings it acquires an electric charge. The charge on the bee is 103 pC.

a) How many electrons must be transferred away from a bee to produce a charge of +103 pC?

b) Suppose two bees, each with a charge of 103 pC, are separated by a distance of 0.85 cm. Treating the bees as point charges, what is the magnitude of the electrostatic force experienced by the bees? (In comparison, the weight of a 0.140 g bee is 1.37 mN)

Please show all steps.

Explanation / Answer

(a). Charge q = 103 pC                       = 103 x 10 -12 C No.of electrons N = q / e                              = ( 103 x 10 -12 C) / ( 1.6 x 10 -19 C )                              = 643.75 x 10 6 (b). Distance r = 0.85 cm                        = 0.0085 m Force F = Kqq / r 2 Where K = Coulomb's constant                 = 8.99 x 10 9 N m 2/ C 2        Substitue values we get F = 1.32 x 10 -6 N

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