The distance between a proton and an electron is cut in half. how does the force of attraction change? a) the force becomes twice as much. b) the force becomes one-half as much. c) the force becomes four times as much. d) the force becomes one-quarter as much.

The electric force is a force that is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This can be proved by Coulomb's Law, which states:

"The electrostatic force between two point charges and is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance that separates them, and has the direction of the line that joins them"

Mathematically this law is written as:

   (1)

Where is a proportionality constant.

Now, if we say is the proton and is the electron, and cut the distance between them in half, the new distance will be .

Substituting this new distance in equation (1):

  (2)

    (3)>>>As we can see, the force becomes four times stronger