Which of the following pairs forms the basis of all of electrostatics?

The correct answer is Option (4) → Coulomb’s law and the superposition principle

Coulomb’s law gives the force between two point charges. The superposition principle lets us add these forces for any number of charges. Fields, flux and Gauss’s law all follow from these two.

Option (1) Gauss’s law and the conservation of charge — Incorrect. Gauss’s law is itself based on the inverse square law of Coulomb. Conservation of charge does not give the force between charges.

Option (2) Coulomb’s law and Newton’s third law — Incorrect. Newton’s third law tells us that two charges exert equal and opposite forces on each other. It does not tell us how forces from many charges combine.

Option (3) Ohm’s law and Coulomb’s law — Incorrect. Ohm’s law deals with steady currents in conductors. It does not deal with charges at rest.

Option (4) Coulomb’s law and the superposition principle — Correct. The force between any two charges, added as vectors over all pairs, gives every result of electrostatics.

NCERT (2026-27):
Forces Between Multiple Charges – “The vector sum is obtained as usual by the parallelogram law of addition of vectors. All of electrostatics is basically a consequence of Coulomb’s law and the superposition principle.”