Hi All,
A few people didn't catch what I said about the "two media" and Coulomb's Law. So here it is again:
Suppose you have two different media, one with associated relative permittivity e1 (epsilon_1) and the other with e2. Recall in the Coulomb's Law equation that there is the relative permittivity embedded in the expression for k. Now, the question is this: suppose charge q1 is in media #1, and q2 is in media #2. Which permittivity do you use when finding the force acting on q1 due to q2 (and vice versa, which permittivity do you use for the force on q2 due to q1)?
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After much thought to this question, the only thing reasonable I have thought of is that since to calculate the permittivity of a medium is equal to multiplying relative permittivity and free space permittivity, it should be reasonable to say that multiplying the permittivity of the 2 mediums should give you what permittivity to use in calculating the force of Q1 on Q2. I will be willing to come forward and explain my reasoning further.
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