The drawing shows an equilateral triangle, each side of which has a length of 5.00 cm. Point charges are fixed to each corner, as shown. The 4.00 C charge experiences a net force due to the charges qA and qB. This net force points vertically downward and has a magnitude of 599 N. Determine (a) charge qA, (b) charge qB.
The unknown charges can be determined using Coulomb’s law to express the electrostatic force that each unknown charge exerts on the 4.00 μC charge. In applying this law, we will use the fact that the net force points downward in the drawing. This tells us that the unknown charges are both negative and have the same magnitude, as can be understood with the help of the free-body diagram for the 4.00 μC charge that is shown at the right.
the unknown charges have the same magnitude, we can write Coulomb’s law as follows:
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