194k views
5 votes
A charge of +2.00 x 10^-9 C is placed at the origin, and another charge of +4.00 x 10^-9 C is placed at x = 1.5 m. Find the point between these two charges where a charge of +3.00 x 10^-9 C should be placed so that the net electric force on it is zero.

User WBAR
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Final answer:

The point where the net electric force on a charge of +3.00 x 10^-9 C is zero between two charges can be found using Coulomb's Law. By balancing the forces from both charges, we can solve for the distance from one of the charges to the point of equilibrium.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the point where the net electric force on a charge of +3.00 x 10-9 C is zero between two other charges of +2.00 x 10-9 C and +4.00 x 10-9 C, we need to apply Coulomb's Law. The electric force between two point charges is given by Coulomb's Law as F = k * |q1 * q2| / r2, where k is Coulomb's constant, q1 and q2 are the charges, and r is the distance between the charges.

Let's call the distance from the +2.00 x 10-9 C charge to the point where the net force is zero 'x', and therefore the distance from the +4.00 x 10-9 C charge to this point will be (1.5 - x) meters. The electric forces from each charge on the +3.00 x 10-9 C charge must be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction for the net force to be zero.

Setting up the equation based on Coulomb's Law we get k * (2.00 x 10-9 * 3.00 x 10-9) / x2 = k * (4.00 x 10-9 * 3.00 x 10-9) / (1.5 - x)2. After simplifying and solving for 'x', we find the position where the net force on the +3.00 x 10-9 C charge is zero.

User Harriett
by
7.3k points