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rela
Feb26-08, 01:07 AM
Dear experts,

Please guide me along with this problem.

Two identical small conducting spheres are separated by 0.60 m. The spheres carry
different amounts of charge and each sphere experiences an attractive electric force of
10.8 N. The total charge on the two spheres is −24 μC. The two spheres are connected
by a slender conducting wire, which is then removed. The electric force on each sphere is
closest to:

I attempted on it by finding the charges on each sphere to be (-60uC & +36uC) and initially i thought the answer was 0N since the conducting wire will conduct away all the negative charges from one sphere to the positively charged sphere, thus the negatively charged sphere becomes neutral eventually.

However, as I thought longer, it doesnt seem so. Can someone pls explain to me what exactly happans and enlighten me on the exact interaction between the charges from moment to moment before arriving to the final answer?

Thanks for the help!

Regards
Rela

michalll
Feb26-08, 05:25 AM
The answer is really simple, after connecting, since their identical the charge will distribute on both spheres the same, thus each sphere will bear -12 uC.