What Is the Electric Constant and Why Should You Care?
1 min read
Summary
The fundamental physical constants are particularly fascinating as they are used in models of the physical universe, but their values have to be measured rather than derived.
While it is easy to take these for granted, had they been different, the universe might not be capable of supporting life.
Coulomb’s law, for instance, is a famous equation which governs the electrostatic force, using the electric constant, k.
Charles Augustin de Coulomb carried out experiments using a torsion balance to measure the force between two electrically charged objects.
While he was unable to quantify the electric force, later scientists were able to gradually home in on the value of the electric constant through their experiments.
Furthermore, there is a relationship between the permittivity of free space and the speed of light, as well as between the permittivity and electric constant, as outlined in the equation c = 1/√ε0μ0.
