coloumb's law and newton's law of gravitation?

Question

Why coloumb's law(F=k q1q2/d^2) and newton's law of gravitation(F=G m1m2/d^2) is very similar to each other?

Answer 1

Because they are both long-range forces--that is, forces with a massless exchange boson--in three dimensions. I'm serious. This is a deep question with a deep answer in the way forces are expressed in quantum field theory.

Edit--Yes, as the poster below says, the flux spreads out over a sphere. That's a clearer way of saying how it matters that it's in three dimensions.

Answer 2

The unifying principle is that when an object creates a force field, the "flux" of the field, integrated across a surface that encapsulates the object, is the same no matter what surface it is. Let me explain.....

The intensity of light can be measured in number of photons per second per square meter. When light with a given intensity penetrates a (transparent) surface, the flux through the surface is the number of photons per second. So this is equal to the intensity of the light multiplied by the area of the surface.

Suppose you have a lightbulp that emits n photons per second. Now think of a sphere with radius r and center at the lightbulp. The are of the sphere is
A = 4 pi r^2
and the flux is n, so the intensity is
n / (4 pi r^2)
Wow! The intensity of the light is inversely proportional to the the square of the distance from the lightbulp! Just like gravitation and the Coulomb force!

Here I talk about photons. In general, the particles are the bosons mentioned by the previous answerer.

Answer 3

You will discover such similiarites all throuout science. An example like you just found or try the formulas for Speed, Time and Distance and compaire them with Ohms law.

Answer 4

not only this also the magnetic field force or any other field force follow the same inverse square relationship varying on distance