Question

Calculate the net force on particle q₁.First, find the direction of the force particle q2 isexerting on particle q₁. Is it pushing to the right (+),or to the left (-)?

Answer 1

All we need to do in order to find out the direction is to take into account the sign of the charge. As they are both positive, the particles will repel each other, which can be seen on the following drawing:

Thus, particle q2 will try to push particle q1 to the left

The answer is: -