Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's Law Screenshot
  • Electrostatics
  • Electric Force
  • Force Pairs

Topics

  • Electrostatics
  • Electric Force
  • Force Pairs
  • Coulomb's Law

Description

Visualize the electrostatic force that two charges exert on each other. Observe how changing the sign and magnitude of the charges and the distance between them affects the electrostatic force.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Relate the electrostatic force magnitude to the charges and the distance between them
  • Explain Newton's third law for electrostatic forces
  • Use measurements to determine Coulomb’s constant
  • Determine what makes a force attractive or repulsive
Version 1.0.9

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Coulomb Law Remote Lab A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro		 Remote
Lab		 Physics
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López HS
MS		 Other Earth Science
Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Coulomb's Law Lab David Wirth UG-Intro
HS		 Remote
HW
Lab		 Physics
coulomb's Law Nawal Nayfeh UG-Adv
HS		 Lab
Remote		 Physics
Coulomb's Law Data Collection and Analysis (remote online learning) Danielle Martin HS Lab
Guided
Remote		 Physics
Chemistry - Introduction to Coulomb's Law Jessica Youmans HS Guided Chemistry
Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics Jaya Ramchandani HS Other Physics
Coulomb's Law for Chemistry Teresa Erdman HS Guided Chemistry
Coulombs Law Activity David Kennedy (Adapted by Roland Van Kerschaveri & Marie Scearce, 2019) HS Guided Physics
Coulomb's Self Discovery Activity Matthew Leach HS Guided Physics
Coulomb's law Roland Van Kerschaver HS Lab Physics
Serie de actividades para Electrostática: de Electrización, Campos y Fuerzas A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein (traducción Diana López) UG-Intro
MS
HS		 Guided
Discuss
HW
Remote
MC
Lab		 Physics
SECUNDARIA: Alineación PhET con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS		 Other Mathematics
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López HS
UG-Intro		 Other Chemistry
Physics
Mathematics
Wet van Coulomb - Google Quiz - guided inquiry Loran de Vries MS Remote
HW
Lab		 Physics
Simulação virtual para os tipos de eletrização e a relação entre as cargas. Denis Alves HS Demo
Lab		 Physics

Share an Activity!

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Ligji i Kulonit
Arabic All العربية Run now قانون كولوم
Azerbaijani All Azerbaijani Run now Kulon qanunu
Basque All Euskara Run now Coulomb-en legea
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Kulonov zakon
Catalan All català Run now Llei de Coulomb
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 库仑定律
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Coulomb's Law_庫侖定律
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Coulombov zakon
Czech All čeština Run now Coulombův zákon
Danish All Dansk Run now Coulombs lov
Dutch All Nederlands Run now De wet van Coulomb
French All français Run now Loi de Coulomb
Georgian All ქართული Run now კულონის კანონი
German All Deutsch Run now Coulomb-Gesetz
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Νόμος του Κουλόμπ
Hebrew All עברית Run now חוק קולון
Hungarian All magyar Run now Coulomb-törvény
Italian All italiano Run now Legge di Coulomb
Japanese All 日本語 Run now クーロンの法則
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Кулон заңы
Korean All 한국어 Run now 쿨롱의 법칙
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Kulona likums
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Кулоны Хууль
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Coulombs Lov
Persian All فارسی Run now قانون کولن
Polish All polski Run now Prawo Coulomba
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Lei de Coulomb
Russian All русский Run now Закон Кулона
Serbian All Српски Run now Кулонов закон
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Coulombov zákon
Spanish All español Run now Ley de Coulomb Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Ley de Coulomb Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Ley de Coulomb
Swedish All svenska Run now Coulombs lag
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Coulomb Kanunu
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Định luật Coulomb

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Michael Barlow (lead developer)
  • Jesse Greenberg (developer)
  • Amy Rouinfar (lead designer)
  • Amy Hanson
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Mariah Hermsmeyer (graphic arts)
  • Cheryl McCutchan (graphic arts)
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • he-1.1.1.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js