Electrostatics 1st year engineering

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on determining the ratio of charges Q/q at the corners of a rhombus made of rods, considering static equilibrium and the forces acting on the charges. The user analyzes the forces, including Coulomb forces and tension in the rods, but is uncertain about the signs of the charges, which affects the direction of the forces. They derive equations relating the forces and attempt to express Q/q in terms of the angles involved. The user seeks validation of their approach and guidance on isolating Q/q from their derived equation. The conversation highlights the complexities of electrostatic interactions in a static configuration.
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at each corner of a rhobus , made of rods, each with a length of B, there are electric charges of "Q" and "q" so that each q charge is opposite a q charge and each Q charge opposite a Q charge. what does the ratio of Q/q need to be so that the angle (alpha) is

a)90 degrees
b)60 degrees
c)45 degrees
(take the tension of the rods into account)

i started up by taking one of the corners and analyzing the forces on it, since the shape is static, Ftotal=0.
i took the top Q charge and said, what are the forces acting on it,

the Coulumb force F(Q-Q) which pushes it upwards
the Coulumb force F(Q-q) which (depends on the charge)
the tension os the rods T

my problem is that i do not know which of the charges are negative(if any) or positive, so i cannot decide on the directions of the forces, the only one i do know is F(Q-Q) since Q must repell Q,

diagram below


diagram below
http://picasaweb.google.com/devanlevin/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_4l4PpvP_YsQE#5311131135994735922
 
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what i did so far is:

since i don't know the sign of q, the coulomb force can either repell or attract Q

F(QQ)=2Tcos(α/2) ± 2F(Qq)cos(α/2)

q will always repell q so T is the force which balance that
2Tsin(α/2) = F(qq)


F(QQ)=F(qq)cot(α/2) ± 2F(Qq)cos(α/2)

K\frac{QQ}{(2b*cos(alpha/2))^2} = K\frac{qq}{(2b*sin(alpha/2))^2}*cot(alpha/2) ± 2K\frac{Qq}{b^2}cos(alpha/2)

(Q/q) * \frac{Q}{cos^2(alpha/2)} = \frac{q}{sin^2(alpha/2)}*cot(alpha/2) ± 8Qcos(alpha/2)

1st of all, is this alright?
2nd of all, how do i find Q/q from this?? how do i get the q's and Q's out of this equation?
 
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