Coulomb's Law (Electric Force) Video Lessons

Concept

Problem: Coulomb's law allows us to find the force between two point charges. Three point charges are held fixed on a straight line with equal spacing; +Q, +q, -Q from left to right. Consider the following comment about this situation. "There will be zero net electric force on the charge in the middle due to the other charges. Using Coulomb's law, the force due to the +Q charge is positive, and the force due to the -Q charge is negative. The force cancel." Do you agree with this statement? How does Coulomb's law apply to situations in which there are more than two point charges?

FREE Expert Solution

In this problem, we'll use Coulomb's law to evaluate the electric force on a charge due to nearby charges.

Coulomb's law:

$\overline{){\mathbf{F}}{\mathbf{=}}\frac{\mathbf{k}{\mathbf{q}}_{\mathbf{1}}{\mathbf{q}}_{\mathbf{2}}}{{\mathbf{r}}^{\mathbf{2}}}}$

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Problem Details

Coulomb's law allows us to find the force between two point charges. Three point charges are held fixed on a straight line with equal spacing; +Q, +q, -Q from left to right. Consider the following comment about this situation. "There will be zero net electric force on the charge in the middle due to the other charges. Using Coulomb's law, the force due to the +Q charge is positive, and the force due to the -Q charge is negative. The force cancel." Do you agree with this statement? How does Coulomb's law apply to situations in which there are more than two point charges?