Why is Coulomb's law an example of the inverse square law? Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic force between two charged particles - Leaving Cert Physics - Question g - 2006

The inverse square nature of Coulomb's law means that the force is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance. This can be illustrated by the general principle of inverse square laws, where if the distance is multiplied by a factor, the force is divided by the square of that factor. For instance:

$\text{If } r \text{ is doubled, then } F \to \frac{F}{4}$

This firmly establishes Coulomb's law as an example of an inverse square law in the context of electrostatic forces.

The mathematical expression showing the inverse relation in Coulomb's law is:

$F \propto \frac{1}{r^2}$

This succinctly encapsulates the nature of the electrostatic force in relation to distance.