Question

Two identical conducting spheres each having a radius of 0.500 cm are connected by a light, 2.00-m-long conducting wire. A charge of 60.0 mC is placed on one of the conductors. Assume the surface distribution of charge on each sphere is uniform. Determine the tension in the wire.

Answer 1

The charge will obviously be split 1/2 and 1/2 between the spheres. By Gaussian considerations you can treat each sphere as a point charge. Now use Coulomb's law to find the force between them. The force must be equal to the magnitude of the tension of the wire.