Homework Statement
How much work is needed to arrange three charges, Q, into an equilateral triangle? The particles are initially infinitely far apart. Take 'a' to be the length of each side of the triangle.
Homework Equations
U = {(kqq)/L}
The Attempt at a Solution
I was under...
Okay, so doing the pairwise additions would yield:
(3/2) mv^2 = (kQ1Q2)/R + (kQ2Q3)/R + (kQ1Q3)/R
And since each charge is the same, +Q, and the charges are all 'L' distance apart:
(3/2) mv^2 = (kQ^2)/L + (kQ^2)/L + (kQ^2)/L
Therefore:
v = root [(2kQ^2)/(mL)]
:rolleyes:
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Edit: Also...
Hi gneill. Thanks :)
Okay, so I did what you suggested, not sure if it's correct though.
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So we know the potential energy difference is:
V = (kq)/r
And we know
PE = KE
Therefore:
1/2 mv2 + 1/2 mv2 + 1/2 mv2 = (kq)/r + (kq)/r + (kq)/r
v = root [(2kQ)/(mr)]...
Homework Statement
"Three identical charges, each with charge 'Q' and a mass 'm', are arranged on the corners of an equilateral triangle of side length 'L'. The spheres are released simultaneously. What is the speed of each charge when they are very far apart?
Homework Equations
F =...