What is the relationship between the distance and electrostatic force as one charge moves away from another?

The relationship between distance and electrostatic force is defined by Coulomb's Law, which states that the magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point charges is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Mathematically, this can be expressed as ( F = k \frac{{|q_1 q_2|}}{{r^2}} ), where ( F ) is the electrostatic force, ( k ) is Coulomb's constant, ( q_1 ) and ( q_2 ) are the magnitudes of the charges, and ( r ) is the distance between the centers of the two charges.

As one charge moves farther away from the other, the distance ( r ) increases, causing the denominator in the equation to become larger. This leads to a decrease in the overall force ( F ). The relationship is an inverse one, meaning that as distance increases, the force decreases; specifically, the force decreases with the square of the distance.

This inverse relationship highlights that even as charges move further apart, the impact of their electrostatic interaction diminishes quickly due to the squared nature of the distance in the formula. Hence, the selection indicating that the force decreases inversely accurately captures this