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ally1h
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Homework Statement
A small droplet of oil with a mass of 2.00x10^-15 kg is held suspended in a region of uniform electric field directed upward with a magnitude E = 6,000 N/C.
a) What is the charge on the droplet?
b) Find the acceleration of the droplet if the electric field suddenly dropped to 0 N/C
Homework Equations
E = F/q (for a uniform field)
F=ma
The Attempt at a Solution
It sounds like a straight forward question, solve for q. But the droplet being suspended has me confused.
I assume I substitute F=ma into E=F/q to get E=ma/q, but if the droplet is suspended doesn't that mean a=0? And that would make E=0? There's obviously something I'm not understanding. Please help?