Final answer:
The electric potential at point P can be calculated by summing up the contributions from each of the three point charges using the formula V = k * q / r, where V is the electric potential, k is the electrostatic constant, q is the charge, and r is the distance from the point charge.
Step-by-step explanation:
The electric potential at point P can be calculated by summing up the contributions from each of the three point charges. The electric potential due to a point charge can be calculated using the formula:
V = k * q / r
where V is the electric potential, k is the electrostatic constant, q is the charge, and r is the distance from the point charge.
We can calculate the electric potential at point P by summing up the electric potential due to each point charge:
V = (k * q₁) / r₁ + (k * q₂) / r₂ + (k * q₃) / r₃
where q₁, q₂, and q₃ are the charges of the three point charges, and r₁, r₂, and r₃ are the distances from point P to each of the point charges.
The question is concerned with calculating the electric potential at a point P due to the presence of three colinear point charges. To find the electric potential, we use the formula V = k * q / r, where V is the electric potential, k is Coulomb's constant (approximately 8.99 x 109 Nm2/C2), q is the charge, and r is the distance from the charge to point P. Since the potential is a scalar quantity, it can simply be summed over each charge.
Therefore, we will calculate the potential contributed by each charge separately and then sum them to get the total potential at point P.