Solving Force of Charges Problem - 1nC Charge in Middle

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the force on a 1nC charge located at the center of a square formed by four charges: two -2nC charges at the left corners and two +2nC charges at the right corners, with the square's side length being 1cm. The force equation used is F = (kq1q2/r^2), where the user correctly identifies that the y-components of the forces cancel out, and the x-components are equal. However, the user calculates the total force incorrectly as 5.1E-4 N instead of the correct value, which is double that. The error is attributed to an arithmetic mistake in the calculations.

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Homework Statement


What is the force F on the 1nC charge in the middle due to the four other harges? Give your answer in component form.

There is a picture that i don't know how to get up so ill just describe it.

There are four charges in a square, length of square = 1cm. the two charges on the left corners of the square are -2nC and the two charges on the right corners of the square are +2nC. There is a charge in the middle of the square of +1 nC.


Homework Equations


I'm just using F= (kq1q2/r^2)


The Attempt at a Solution


so what I am doing is a force diagram and from that i know that the y components cancel out. the magnitude of the forces is equal, therefore their x components will be equal. Using the force equation under step two i determined the magnitude of the force and from that was able to determine the x component with cosine and a 45 degree angle. I then multiplied the x component by 4.
The answer i ended up with was 5.1E-4 where the real answer is actually double that.

Thanks!
 
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The concept is correct. There must have been some arithmetical mistake somewhere. Show your calculations briefly.
 
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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