Coulomb's law: Two identical small charged spheres are a certain distance apart, and each one initially experiences an electrostatic force of magnitude F due to the other. With time, charge gradually leaks off of both spheres. When each of the spheres has lost half its initial charge, the magnitude of the electrostatic force will be

Question

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Coulomb's law states that electrostatic force is directly proportional to the product of charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. If both spheres lose half their charge, the force between them will become one-quarter of the original force because the product of charges is reduced by a factor of 4 (1/2 x 1/2) and the distance remains the same. Therefore, the correct answer is choice C, 1/4 F.

Coulomb's Law: Two Identical Small Charged Spheres Are a Certain