Almanzo said:I take it that the charges come from infinity.
The work required to bring them in from infinity is the sum of the electrostatic energies of the pairs of charges. With 8 charges there are 8*7/2 = 28 such pairs. These can be viewed as the 12 sides of the cube, its 12 surface diagonals and its 4 body diagonals. Be sure to remember that the energy is inversely proportional to the distance, not (like the force) to the distance squared.
The work required to assemble charged particles refers to the amount of energy needed to bring a group of charged particles together from a distance. It takes energy to overcome the repulsive forces between these particles and bring them closer together.
The work required to assemble charged particles is calculated by multiplying the force between the particles and the distance they are moved. This can be represented by the formula W = Fd, where W is the work, F is the force, and d is the distance.
Yes, the work required to assemble charged particles is always positive. This is because the particles have a repulsive force between them, meaning that energy must be added to the system to bring them closer together.
Yes, the work required to assemble charged particles does depend on the charge and mass of the particles. The greater the charge and mass of the particles, the stronger the repulsive force between them and the more work is required to bring them together.
The work required to assemble charged particles is directly related to the potential energy of the system. As the particles are brought closer together, their potential energy increases and so does the work required to assemble them. When the particles are at an infinite distance, the potential energy is zero and no work is required to assemble them.