How to Calculate the Force on a Charge in an Equilateral Triangle?

[laminatedevildoll]

Three charges reside on an equilateral triangle with sides equal to d. All three charges are equal in magnitude and sign.

What is the magnitude of the force F' on one of the three charges q due to the total electric field from the other two charges q on the corners of the equilateral triangle?

Okay, so this problem is driving me nuts because I cannot get the correct solution, which by the way is 1407 Newtons. q=60 micro C and d=20 cm.

I tried to find the force of the one charge due to other two charges by using coulomb's law, and the direction, but I couldn't seem to get it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[assyrian_77]

I assume you took the superpositions of the two other charges reacting on your charge You can proceed by adding the forces in the x-direction separately and the y-direction separately (or any other directions/axes of your choice). After that you can easily get the magnitude.

 

[whozum]

An equilateral triangle has sides of 60 degrees.
The superposition principle says the net force from two particles will be the vector sum of the force of each particle.
The net force is repulsive since the charges are the same.
The distance is 0.2m