Three point charges + q, -q and + q are placed at the vertices P, Q and R of an equilateral triangle. If F=1/4ðE q 2/ r2 where r is the side of the triangle, What is the force on charge at P due to charges at Q and R? It is along which direction.?

Since one charge is +ve other -ve will they cancel each other. Or to find out the total effect should i add the forces. Since force is a vector it will be along which direction along +ve or -ve x axis? How to calculate in the above question.

To find the force on the charge at P due to the charges at Q and R, you need to calculate the individual forces exerted by Q and R on P and then add them together.

First, let's consider the force exerted by Q on P. Since Q and P have opposite charges, the force between them will be attractive and directed towards each other.

The magnitude of the force F between two charges can be calculated using Coulomb's law formula: F = (1/4πε) * (q1 * q2) / r^2, where ε is the permittivity of free space, q1 and q2 are the charges, and r is the distance between them.

In this case, the distance between Q and P is the length of the side of the equilateral triangle, which is denoted as "r". The charges q1 and q2 are q (positive charge at Q) and -q (negative charge at P), respectively.

So, the magnitude of the force exerted by Q on P is:
F(Q on P) = (1/4πε) * (q * -q) / r^2 = -q^2 / (4πεr^2).

Now, let's consider the force exerted by R on P. Since R and P have the same charge (+q), the force between them will be repulsive and directed away from each other.

Using the same formula, the magnitude of the force F between R and P is:
F(R on P) = (1/4πε) * (q * q) / r^2 = q^2 / (4πεr^2).

To find the total force on P, you need to add the magnitudes of the individual forces exerted by Q and R:
F(total) = F(Q on P) + F(R on P) = -q^2 / (4πεr^2) + q^2 / (4πεr^2) = 0.

Therefore, the total force on the charge at P due to the charges at Q and R is zero. This means that the forces exerted by Q and R on P cancel each other out.

Since the total force is zero, it doesn't have a specific direction. In other words, the net force is balanced, and there is no resultant force acting on the charge at P.

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