Respuesta :
Answer: The force on a negative charge that is placed midway between two equal positive charges is zero when all charges have the same magnitude.
Explanation:
Let us assume that
[tex]q_{1} = q_{2} = +q[/tex]
[tex]q_{3} = -q[/tex]
As [tex]q_{3}[/tex] is the negative charge and placed midway between two equal positive charges ([tex]q_{1}[/tex] and [tex]q_{2}[/tex]).
Total distance between [tex]q_{1}[/tex] and [tex]q_{2}[/tex] is 2r. This means that the distance between [tex]q_{1}[/tex] and [tex]q_{3}[/tex], [tex]q_{2}[/tex] and [tex]q_{3}[/tex] = d = r
Now, force action on charge [tex]q_{3}[/tex] due to [tex]q_{1}[/tex] is as follows.
[tex]F_{31} = k(\frac{q_{1} \times q_{3}}{d^{2}})[/tex]
where,
k = electrostatic constant = [tex]9 \times 10^{9} Nm^{2}/C^{2}[/tex]
Substitute the values into above formula as follows.
[tex]F_{31} = k(\frac{q_{1} \times q_{3}}{d^{2}})\\= 9 \times 10^{9} (\frac{q \times (-q)}{r^{2}})\\= - 9 \times 10^{9} (\frac{q^{2}}{r^{2}})[/tex] ... (1)
Similarly, force acting on [tex]q_{3}[/tex] due to [tex]q_{1}[/tex] is as follows.
[tex]F_{32} = k \frac{q_{2}q_{3}}{d^{2}}\\= -9 \times 10^{9} \frac{q^{2}}{r^{2}}\\[/tex] ... (2)
As both the forces represented in equation (1) and (2) are same and equal in magnitude. This means that the net force acting on charge [tex]q_{3}[/tex] is zero.
Thus, we can conclude that the force on a negative charge that is placed midway between two equal positive charges is zero when all charges have the same magnitude.
