Net Force Exerted by Two Charges on a Third Charge (Coulomb's Law)

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a problem involving Coulomb's Law to calculate the net force exerted by two charges on a third charge. The user has calculated the forces exerted by each charge but consistently receives incorrect answers when submitting them. Key calculations include the distances between the charges and the application of Coulomb's Law, but the user realizes that the charges should be converted from nanocoulombs (nC) to coulombs (C) for accurate results. This small oversight in unit conversion is highlighted as the likely source of the errors in their calculations. Correcting this will likely resolve the issue with the final answer submission.
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This problem has been posted before with different values for each variable and I
did as best I could to complete it similarly. However, when I attempt to input my final
answer I get it wrong every time. I just wanted to see where I am going wrong, thanks.

Homework Statement



Coulomb's law for the magnitude of the force F between two particles with charges
Q and Q' separated by a distance d is:

|F| = K(|QQ'|)/d2

Consider two point charges located on the x axis:
one charge, q1 = -14.5nC, is located at x1 = -1.745m
the second charge, q2 = 36.5nC, is located at the origin.

What is the net force exerted by these two charges on a third charge
q3 = 45.5nC, placed between q1 and q2 at x3 = -1.085?

Your answer may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of the force

Homework Equations



K = 1/4\pi\epsilon0

The Attempt at a Solution



I found the distance between q1 and q1 to be 0.660m
I found the distance between q3 and q2 to be 1.085m

I began by finding the charge q1 exerts on q3
by:

|F1| = K*[|(-14.5*45.5)|/(0.6602)] = 1.362E13

(At this point in the problem there is a hint section asking for this force, when I submit the answer I calculated I am told it is wrong.)

And then I found the charge q2 exerts on q3 by:

|F2| = K*[|(45.5*36.5)|/(1.0852)] = 1.268E13

(Again, there is a hint section asking for this value, which also tells me it is wrong)

From those two calculated forces I take F1 - F2 to get a final answer, which is ultimately deemed incorrect.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Units! The charges are quoted in nC, not C.
 
Gah! I knew it would be something small. It always is. Thanks!
 
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