Final answer:
Determining if the electric field is zero at the origin requires information about the positions and magnitudes of charges. The total electric field from multiple charges can be zero at a point if the electric fields due to the charges cancel each other out. It is not valid to claim the field is zero at the origin without specific information on the charges.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks whether the electric field equals zero at the origin given a situation where two charges lie along the x-axis. The answer to whether the electric field is zero at the origin cannot be definitively determined without additional information about the magnitudes and signs of the charges as well as their positions relative to the origin. However, it is a well-understood principle in physics that the total electric field at a point due to a number of point charges can indeed be zero if the vector sum of the individual electric fields at that point cancels out.
In a scenario with just two charges, if they are of equal magnitude and opposite sign, they will produce electric fields in opposite directions at points along the x-axis between them, and there will be a point where these electric fields cancel each other, resulting in an electric field of zero. Without specifics on the charge configuration, stating the electric field is zero at the origin cannot be generally claimed as true or false.