Field and force with three charges

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The discussion revolves around calculating the electric field at the location of charge q1 due to charge q2 using Coulomb's Law. The user initially miscalculated the position conversion from centimeters to meters, which led to an incorrect result. The correct conversion is crucial, as 4 cm should be represented as 0.04 m. The user received clarification on the unit vector direction and acknowledged the mistake in conversion. Accurate unit conversion is essential for obtaining the correct electric field value.
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Homework Statement



At a particular moment, three small charged balls, one negative and two positive,are located as shown in the figure. q1 = 3 nC, q2 = 7 nC, and q3 = -5 nC.

What is the electric field at the location of Q1, due to Q2?

y
q1
|
|
|
q2______q3____x

Okay that is the given diagram the if q2 is at (0,0) then q1 is at (0,4); q3 at (3,0);
and the distances are in centimeters

Homework Equations



I'm using Coulomb's Law which states that E = 9e9*(q/r^2)r-hat

The Attempt at a Solution



So I thought all I have to do is plug in the values

[9e9*(7e-9/(.004)^2)]*<0,4,0> = <0,3937500,0>N/C

please help me, I've been staring at this for a while and I cannot figure out why I don't get the right answer, I shouldn't have to consider the other charges because they don't affect the field created by q2 just the net field, so why is this not correct I have no idea.

Thanks Again for all the help guys
 
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In what units are the components of the position?

ehild
 
The components of the positions are in centimeters. (cm)
 
If so, 4 cm = 0.04 m. And you have to use the unit vector in the direction of <0,4,0>.

ehild
 
Oh yes your right, I just kept converting the cm to m wrong, putting an extra zero in front of it like they were mm or something. Thank You so much it really helps having someone else look at this. I knew I had to be making some stupid mistake.
 
The book claims the answer is that all the magnitudes are the same because "the gravitational force on the penguin is the same". I'm having trouble understanding this. I thought the buoyant force was equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. Weight depends on mass which depends on density. Therefore, due to the differing densities the buoyant force will be different in each case? Is this incorrect?

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