[FEAT] Add Coulomb's Law for electrostatics (#7017)

Co-authored-by: Priyanshu1303d <priyanshu130d@gmail.com>
This commit is contained in:
Priyanshu Kumar Singh
2025-11-01 14:58:44 +05:30
committed by GitHub
parent bf8cc61254
commit 08374248e9
3 changed files with 181 additions and 1 deletions

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@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public final class JugglerSequence {
seq.add(n + "");
}
String res = String.join(",", seq);
System.out.println(res);
System.out.print(res + "\n");
}
// Driver code

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package com.thealgorithms.physics;
/**
* Implements Coulomb's Law for electrostatics.
* Provides simple static methods to calculate electrostatic force and circular orbit velocity.
*
* @author [Priyanshu Singh](https://github.com/Priyanshu1303d)
* @see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb%27s_law">Wikipedia</a>
*/
public final class CoulombsLaw {
/** Coulomb's constant in N·m²/C² */
public static final double COULOMBS_CONSTANT = 8.9875517923e9;
/**
* Private constructor to prevent instantiation of this utility class.
*/
private CoulombsLaw() {
}
/**
* Calculates the electrostatic force vector exerted by one charge on another.
* The returned vector is the force *on* the second charge (q2).
*
* @param q1 Charge of the first particle (in Coulombs).
* @param x1 X-position of the first particle (m).
* @param y1 Y-position of the first particle (m).
* @param q2 Charge of the second particle (in Coulombs).
* @param x2 X-position of the second particle (m).
* @param y2 Y-position of the second particle (m).
* @return A double array `[fx, fy]` representing the force vector on the second charge.
*/
public static double[] calculateForceVector(double q1, double x1, double y1, double q2, double x2, double y2) {
// Vector from 1 to 2
double dx = x2 - x1;
double dy = y2 - y1;
double distanceSq = dx * dx + dy * dy;
// If particles are at the same position, force is zero to avoid division by zero.
if (distanceSq == 0) {
return new double[] {0, 0};
}
double distance = Math.sqrt(distanceSq);
// Force magnitude: k * (q1 * q2) / r^2
// A positive result is repulsive (pushes q2 away from q1).
// A negative result is attractive (pulls q2 toward q1).
double forceMagnitude = COULOMBS_CONSTANT * q1 * q2 / distanceSq;
// Calculate the components of the force vector
// (dx / distance) is the unit vector pointing from 1 to 2.
double fx = forceMagnitude * (dx / distance);
double fy = forceMagnitude * (dy / distance);
return new double[] {fx, fy};
}
/**
* Calculates the speed required for a stable circular orbit of a charged particle
* around a central charge (e.g., an electron orbiting a nucleus).
*
* @param centralCharge The charge of the central body (in Coulombs).
* @param orbitingCharge The charge of the orbiting body (in Coulombs).
* @param orbitingMass The mass of the orbiting body (in kg).
* @param radius The radius of the orbit (in m).
* @return The orbital speed (in m/s).
* @throws IllegalArgumentException if mass or radius are not positive.
*/
public static double calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(double centralCharge, double orbitingCharge, double orbitingMass, double radius) {
if (orbitingMass <= 0 || radius <= 0) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Orbiting mass and radius must be positive.");
}
// We only need the magnitude of the force, which is always positive.
double forceMagnitude = Math.abs(COULOMBS_CONSTANT * centralCharge * orbitingCharge) / (radius * radius);
// F_c = m * v^2 / r => v = sqrt(F_c * r / m)
return Math.sqrt(forceMagnitude * radius / orbitingMass);
}
}

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package com.thealgorithms.physics;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
/**
* Unit tests for the CoulombsLaw utility class.
*/
final class CoulombsLawTest {
// A small tolerance (delta) for comparing floating-point numbers
private static final double DELTA = 1e-9;
private static final double K = CoulombsLaw.COULOMBS_CONSTANT;
@Test
@DisplayName("Test repulsive force between two charges on the x-axis")
void testSimpleRepulsiveForce() {
// Two positive 1C charges, 1 meter apart.
// Force on q2 should be F = K*1*1 / 1^2 = K, directed away from q1 (positive x)
double[] forceOnB = CoulombsLaw.calculateForceVector(1.0, 0, 0, 1.0, 1, 0);
assertArrayEquals(new double[] {K, 0.0}, forceOnB, DELTA);
// Force on q1 should be equal and opposite (negative x)
double[] forceOnA = CoulombsLaw.calculateForceVector(1.0, 1, 0, 1.0, 0, 0);
assertArrayEquals(new double[] {-K, 0.0}, forceOnA, DELTA);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test attractive force between two charges on the x-axis")
void testSimpleAttractiveForce() {
// One positive 1C, one negative -1C, 1 meter apart.
// Force on q2 should be F = K*1*(-1) / 1^2 = -K, directed toward q1 (negative x)
double[] forceOnB = CoulombsLaw.calculateForceVector(1.0, 0, 0, -1.0, 1, 0);
assertArrayEquals(new double[] {-K, 0.0}, forceOnB, DELTA);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test electrostatic force in a 2D plane (repulsive)")
void test2DRepulsiveForce() {
// q1 at (0,0) with charge +2C
// q2 at (3,4) with charge +1C
// Distance is 5 meters.
double magnitude = K * 2.0 * 1.0 / 25.0; // 2K/25
// Unit vector from 1 to 2 is (3/5, 4/5)
double expectedFx = magnitude * (3.0 / 5.0); // 6K / 125
double expectedFy = magnitude * (4.0 / 5.0); // 8K / 125
double[] forceOnB = CoulombsLaw.calculateForceVector(2.0, 0, 0, 1.0, 3, 4);
assertArrayEquals(new double[] {expectedFx, expectedFy}, forceOnB, DELTA);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test overlapping charges should result in zero force")
void testOverlappingCharges() {
double[] force = CoulombsLaw.calculateForceVector(1.0, 1.5, -2.5, -1.0, 1.5, -2.5);
assertArrayEquals(new double[] {0.0, 0.0}, force, DELTA);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test circular orbit velocity with simple values")
void testCircularOrbitVelocity() {
// v = sqrt( (K*1*1 / 1^2) * 1 / 1 ) = sqrt(K)
double velocity = CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
assertEquals(Math.sqrt(K), velocity, DELTA);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test orbital velocity for a Hydrogen atom (Bohr model)")
void testHydrogenAtomVelocity() {
// Charge of a proton
double protonCharge = 1.602176634e-19;
// Charge of an electron
double electronCharge = -1.602176634e-19;
// Mass of an electron
double electronMass = 9.1093837e-31;
// Bohr radius (avg distance)
double bohrRadius = 5.29177e-11;
double expectedVelocity = 2.1876917e6;
double velocity = CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(protonCharge, electronCharge, electronMass, bohrRadius);
// Use a wider delta for this real-world calculation
assertEquals(expectedVelocity, velocity, 1.0);
}
@Test
@DisplayName("Test invalid inputs for orbital velocity throw exception")
void testInvalidOrbitalVelocityInputs() {
// Non-positive mass
assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(1, 1, 0, 100));
assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(1, 1, -1, 100));
// Non-positive radius
assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(1, 1, 1, 0));
assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> CoulombsLaw.calculateCircularOrbitVelocity(1, 1, 1, -100));
}
}