How Does Tension Affect Electric Charge Calculation?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the application of Coulomb's Law in calculating electric charge, specifically addressing an error in using the arcsine function instead of the sine function. The user initially calculated the distance between two charges, r, as 0.196m using arcsin(4), which is incorrect. The correct approach involves using sin(4) to determine the x-component of the forces acting on the system. This miscalculation led to an incorrect charge value of 1.711e-7, highlighting the importance of using the correct trigonometric functions in physics calculations.

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  • Coulomb's Law for electric force calculations
  • Basic trigonometry, specifically sine and arcsine functions
  • Understanding of vector components in physics
  • Knowledge of forces acting on a system, including tension and weight
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verd
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Hey,

I thought I did this correctly and my answer turned out incorrect. Here's the problem:

http://synthdriven.com/images/deletable/help.jpg"

This is what I did:

In order to use Coloumb's Law, I need r, the distance between the two charges.

[tex]\arcsin{4}=\frac{x}{0.24m}[/tex]
[tex]x=0.24\arcsin{4}=0.098m[/tex]
[tex]r=2x=0.196m[/tex]

So that's r.

Then I need to pick one side of this thing apart and break it down into x and y-components.

With the weight, I have three forces acting on this thing. The tension in the rope, the weight, and the electrical force repelling each sphere.

My goal is to find the x-component of the electrical force so I can then plug it into Coulomb's law and find the charge.

For the weight,
Wx=0
Wy=-mg=-0.98

For the tension,
Tx=-Tsin4
Ty=Tcos4

For the electrical force,
Fx=Tsin4
Fy=0

To find T, all I did was:

FyNET=Wy+Ty+Fy=Tcos4-mg
(net force of y-component)

T=mg/cos4
Right??

So for T, I get 0.098239

Plugging that into Tx, I get 0.006853And then it goes into Coulomb's law. Which I have reformatted this way:

[tex]F=\frac{kq^2}{r^2}[/tex]

...Because both charges are supposed to be equal... Moving that around, I get:
[tex]q=\sqrt{\frac{Fr^2}{k}}[/tex]

Plugging in values, I got 1.711e-7What did I do wrong?
 
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verd said:
This is what I did:

In order to use Coloumb's Law, I need r, the distance between the two charges.

[tex]\arcsin{4}=\frac{x}{0.24m}[/tex]
[tex]x=0.24\arcsin{4}=0.098m[/tex]
[tex]r=2x=0.196m[/tex]

So that's r.
That first equation should have sin(4), not arcsin(4).
 

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