Hi Andy! In 3:14, I notice that there are +270 N of force. Wouldn't it be (-) since the charges are opposite signs, hence will attract? Or were you solving for the magnitude of force the two charges will impart on to each other?
Yup to reduce confusion I was only solving for the magnitude and just used vectors to indicate the direction. You're right that if we just used the formula it would be negative!
The force is the same, the sign doesn’t really matter. You know that it is an attraction as one charge is positive and the other is negative. To quote newton’s law “to every force there is a force of equal magnitude and opposite direction”. The sign simply indicates the direction (supposing that right is + and left -. Look at 1:25 third example) the force for the negative object would be positive and the force for the positive would be negative but the magnitude would remain 270 N for both.
why is the force of A equal to the force of B, does mass have an influence on the force, or is that Newton combined with Einstein? Maybe that is why Newton uses m and not q to signify the force.
