Three point charges are fixed in place in a right triangle. What is the electric force on the q = -0.7 µC charge due to the other two charges? (Let Q1 = +0.79 µC and Q2 = +1.5 µC.)
To find the electric force on the q = -0.7 µC charge due to the other two charges, we need to calculate the individual forces exerted by each charge and then sum them up.
The electric force between two charges is given by Coulomb's Law:
F = k * (|q1| * |q2|) / r^2
Where F is the electric force, k is the electrostatic constant (9 * 10^9 Nm^2/C^2), |q1| and |q2| are the magnitudes of the charges, and r is the distance between the charges.
Let's calculate the forces exerted by each charge:
1. Force due to Q1:
|q1| = 0.79 µC = 0.79 * 10^-6 C
|q| = 0.7 µC = 0.7 * 10^-6 C
r1 = distance between q and Q1
2. Force due to Q2:
|q2| = 1.5 µC = 1.5 * 10^-6 C
|q| = 0.7 µC = 0.7 * 10^-6 C
r2 = distance between q and Q2
To calculate the distances r1 and r2, we need more information about the positions of the charges in the right triangle. Please provide the distances or positions of the charges.
To calculate the electric force on the q = -0.7 µC charge due to the other two charges, we can use Coulomb's law, which states that the force between two charged particles is given by:
F = k * (|q1 * q2|) / r^2
Where:
- F is the magnitude of the force between the two charges,
- k is the electrostatic constant, approximately equal to 9 × 10^9 N m^2/C^2,
- |q1| and |q2| are the magnitudes of the charges, and
- r is the distance between the charges.
In this case, we have three charges arranged in a right triangle. Let's label the sides of the right triangle as side a, side b, and the hypotenuse (opposite the right angle), labeled as side c.
Charge q is located at the right angle vertex, and the other two charges Q1 and Q2 are located at the other vertices.
To calculate the force, we need to consider the individual forces between q and Q1, q and Q2, and then add them up vectorially.
First, let's calculate the force between q and Q1:
- The magnitude of the force between q and Q1 is given by Coulomb's law as:
F1 = k * (|q * Q1|) / r1^2
where r1 is the distance between q and Q1.
Next, let's calculate the force between q and Q2:
- The magnitude of the force between q and Q2 is given by Coulomb's law as:
F2 = k * (|q * Q2|) / r2^2
where r2 is the distance between q and Q2.
Finally, to find the net force on charge q due to both Q1 and Q2, we need to add the forces vectorially:
- The net force is the vector sum of F1 and F2, with proper consideration for direction.
Note that in this case, the charges Q1 and Q2 have positive values, while the charge q has a negative value. Therefore, the forces between q and Q1 and between q and Q2 will have opposite directions.
By calculating the magnitude and direction of both individual forces and adding them together vectorially, we can determine the electric force on the charge q due to the other two charges.