How does the strength of electrical force compare to the gravitational force?

Answer 1

Electrostatic forces are similar to gravitational forces in that they both conform to the distance squared law and are proportional to the properties of the two actors in the interaction (in terms of electrical forces, the charges of the two point charges; and in gravitational, the masses of the two bodies). However, though their interactions looks similar the greatest difference is their strengths. The constant of scale for electrostatic forces (Coulomb's constant) is about 9 x 109 in magnitude, whereas the constant of scale for gravitational force (gravitational constant) is about 6.67 x 10-11 in magnitude. Therefore, the electrostatic force scales much faster than gravitational force. Therefore, it is common to see large objects such as the earth exert a tiny force with respect its size, while a small charged Styrofoam ball can push another with relative ease.

Answer 2

Regarding their relative strength, this is the example I always like to give:

You've got some bits of tissue on the table. You run a rubber comb through your

hair and pass it over the bits of tissue. They jump up off the table to the comb.

The gravitational force of the whole Earth is pulling them down, and the electrostatic

force of a charged pocket comb is pulling them up. And the comb wins.

Compared to the gravitational force between a pair of 1-kilogram masses, the

electric force between a pair of 1-coulomb charges the same distance apart is

about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times as strong.

As my freshman Physics prof used to tell us: If every kilogram of mass in the Earth

and your body were coulombs of charge instead, then when you slipped on the ice,

you'd fall down, just as you do now, but you'd fall 1040 harder.

Answer 3

The electrical force is much stronger than the gravitational force. In fact, the electrical force between two charged particles is approximately 10^36 times stronger than the gravitational force between them. This is why electromagnetic interactions dominate at the atomic and subatomic levels, while gravity dominates at larger scales.

Answer 4

The strong force (The strongest force) is a hundred times stronger the the the electromagnetic one, just that the strong force has a smaller range that only affects the binding of quarks.

Answer 5

Electricity has electric fields. Magnets have magnetic fields.

Answer 6

20 m