Red blood cells often can be charged. two red blood cells are separated by 1.46 m and have an attractive electrostatic force of 0.965 n between them. if one of the red blood cells has a charge of +8.32 10-6 c, what is the sign and magnitude of the second charge

, negative charge

Explanation:

The magnitude of the electrostatic force between the two red blood cells is given by

where

k is the Coulomb's constant

q1 and q2 are the charges of the two cells

r is their separation

In this problem we know that

r = 1.46 m

Solving for q2, we find

And the force between the two cells is attractive, so since the first cell has positive charge, this second cell must have negative charge.