Coulomb's Law - Electrostatics

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on applying Coulomb's Law to calculate the resultant force on a charge placed at the center of a square formed by four point charges. Specifically, charges A and B are +1 µC, while charges C and D are +2 µC, arranged at the corners of a square with a side length of 25 cm. The relevant equation used is Coulomb's Law, expressed as f = k((Q1*Q2)/d²), where k is 9x10^9 N·m²/C². The solution involves calculating the individual forces exerted by each charge on the central charge and then summing these forces vectorially.

PREREQUISITES
  • Coulomb's Law and its application
  • Understanding of electric charge units (microcoulombs)
  • Vector addition of forces
  • Basic geometry of squares and distances between points
NEXT STEPS
  • Learn how to calculate forces using Coulomb's Law with multiple charges
  • Study vector addition techniques for combining forces
  • Explore the concept of electric field strength and its relation to force
  • Investigate the effects of charge configuration on resultant forces
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for high school physics students, educators teaching electrostatics, and anyone seeking to understand the application of Coulomb's Law in practical scenarios.

sally2442
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Hey.

I only just started this unit at school (after coming back from holidays and forgetting everything!) and I'm having trouble with the following problem:

Homework Statement



"Four point charges A, B, C and D are arranged on the corners of a square of side 25cm. If A and B each have a charge of +1 uC while C and D each have a charge of +2 uC, what is the resultant force on a charge of +1 uC placed at the centre of the square?"


Homework Equations



Coulomb's Law
f = k((Q1*Q2)/d2)

where f = force, k = 9x10^9, Q1 and Q2 are the charges in coulombs and d is the separation of the charges (m)


The Attempt at a Solution



I attempted the question, not really knowing where to begin, and got some really weird (and definitely incorrect) answers. It's probably simple and I'm just really slow :blushing:.

I'd really love if someone could just outline where I start and what processes to use to get the answer so I can apply it to other problems.

Thanks so so much!:smile:
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Calculate individual force on the charge (F_a, F_b...), then add the total force as a vector.
 

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