Charges on a square - find forces

[moondawg]

Homework Statement

A charge of 6 mC is placed at each corner of a square .1 m on each side. Determine the magnitude and driection of the force.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

so i found the force between corner 1 and 2 then 1 and 3 to = 32.4N and the force between corner 1 and 4( the corner diagonal to the top left corner) to be 16.2. Then i set up my vectors and found an imaginary hypotenuse and added it to the 16.2 to get 62.02 as my final answer. I'm pretty sure i did it correctly but i only found the magnitude how do i find the direction? I have not a clue. HELP!? pleasezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[SammyS]

Homework Statement

A charge of 6 mC is placed at each corner of a square .1 m on each side. Determine the magnitude and direction of the force.

I have not a clue. HELP!? pleasezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Find the force exerted upon what object?

Are there any coordinate axes?

 

[gneill]

Homework Statement

A charge of 6 mC is placed at each corner of a square .1 m on each side. Determine the magnitude and driection of the force.

Is that mC a milliCoulomb or a microCoulomb?

The Attempt at a Solution

so i found the force between corner 1 and 2 then 1 and 3 to = 32.4N and the force between corner 1 and 4( the corner diagonal to the top left corner) to be 16.2. Then i set up my vectors and found an imaginary hypotenuse and added it to the 16.2 to get 62.02 as my final answer. I'm pretty sure i did it correctly but i only found the magnitude how do i find the direction? I have not a clue. HELP!? pleasezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What are the units of your answer?

Take a look at each of the individual forces that you calculated. They have magnitude and direction. That suggests vectors. How do you add vectors to fins a resultant?

 

[moondawg]

Because all of the forces were repelling i put 1 vector up, one vector perpendicular starting its right end at the tip of the first vector and my last vector connected to my 2nd vector and going in a diagonal northwest direction. then i found the hypotenuse between the 1st and 2nd vector and added that hypotenuse to the length of my 3rd vector and my units are in meters... i know i basically restated what i just said i just wanted to better explain my process bc I am not sure if it is correct..

 

[rwisz]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

As a scientist, it is important to approach problems like this with a systematic and logical approach. In this case, we are dealing with electrostatic forces, which follow the inverse square law. This means that the magnitude of the force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

To find the direction of the force, we can use the concept of electric field lines. These lines represent the direction and magnitude of the electric field at any given point. In this case, we have four charges arranged in a square, so we can draw four electric field lines, one for each charge.

Next, we can use the principle of superposition to find the net electric field at any point in the square. This means that we can add the individual electric field vectors at that point to get the total electric field vector. The direction of this vector will give us the direction of the force acting on a test charge at that point.

In this case, the force will be directed towards the center of the square, since the charges are all positive and will repel each other. The magnitude of the force will depend on the distance between the charges and the strength of the charges.

To find the exact direction and magnitude of the force, we can use Coulomb's law, which states that the force between two charges is equal to the product of the charges divided by the square of the distance between them, multiplied by a constant. By plugging in the values given in the problem, we can calculate the exact magnitude and direction of the force between any two charges in the square.

In summary, to find the forces acting on the charges in this problem, we can use the principles of electric field lines, superposition, and Coulomb's law. This will allow us to calculate the magnitude and direction of the forces between any two charges in the square.