Three point charges are arranged so that they each lie on the vertex of what appears to be an equilateral triangle of side length 1 cm. At the bottom, the two charges are the same (from left to right), each having charge +10 nC (nanoCoulomb). At the vertex on the top, the charge there is (-)20 nC (it's a negative charge). Find the magnitude and direction of the net electric force on the top charge due to the bottom two.
The situation can be visualized as
From the diagram, the forces can be calculated using
From the above two calculations
The net force on the top charge is
Negative sgn signifies the downward direction here.
So, the net electric force on the top charge is 0.0312 N in the downward direction.
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