What It Cost to Put Them There

You'll learnwhat it costs to push charges together, where that energy goes when you let go, and why its sign matters.

Two charges, 3.0 cm apart — the same pair that pushed with 5.99 mN in Unit 8. This time the question is what it cost to put them there. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · STORED ENERGY · SIGNS KEPT · FIELD SPENDS, AGENT STORES · v2

push them together, read the stored energy · the sign is the physics

Before you start

What you're looking at

Small charged objects. Pink with a + is positive, blue with a − is negative. Below them, a plot of the pair's stored energy against distance.

The question

What does it cost to put two charges near each other, and where does that energy go?

Step 1 / 12