Two point charges are located on the y-axis as follows:...

Two point charges are located on the $y$-axis as follows: charge $q_1 = -1.50 $nC at $y = -$0.600 m, and charge $q_2 = +$3.20 nC at the origin $(y = 0)$. What is the total force (magnitude and direction) exerted by these two charges on a third charge $q_3 = +$5.00 nC located at $y = -$0.400 m ?

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Key Concepts

Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's Law describes the force between two point charges as being directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This law is fundamental in calculating the magnitude and direction of the electric force between any two charges.

Superposition Principle

The Superposition Principle states that the total force on a charge due to multiple other charges is the vector sum of the individual forces exerted by each charge separately. This principle allows us to analyze complex systems by considering pairwise interactions between charges.

Vector Addition

Vector Addition is used to combine forces that have both magnitude and direction. When calculating the force on a charge due to other charges, each force is a vector, and their sum must account for both horizontal and vertical components, although in collinear arrangements, this process reduces to careful consideration of the sign and magnitude along the line.

Transcript

00:01 Hey everyone, this is question number 19 from chapter 21.

00:04 In this problem, we're given two charges on the y -axis, and we're asked to find the total force of those two charges on a third charge, also on the y -axis.

00:16 So i drew a quick picture.

00:17 We have q2, q3, and q1, and i didn't write the magnitudes down, but i did write the direction so we can go ahead and make a guess at what direction this is going to be acting in.

00:32 So we're looking at charge three here.

00:35 Q1 is negative.

00:37 Q3 is positive.

00:38 So that's going to be in the negative y direction.

00:42 And then q2 is positive.

00:44 Q3 is positive.

00:45 That's going to be repulsive.

00:47 So that's also going to push q3 in the negative y direction.

00:51 So our net magnitude is going to be in the negative y direction.

00:55 And then we need to figure out force.

00:56 And i went ahead and wrote kulam's law over here.

00:59 We have charges.