Three point charges are placed at the corners | vedclass

Name: Exam Paper Generator | JEE NEET Paper Generator | Vedclass
Brand: Vedclass
Rating: 5 (35 reviews)

Question

(A) For a system of point charges to be in equilibrium, the net electrostatic force on each individual charge must be zero.In an equilateral triangle,

Vedclass · Accepted Answer

The system can never be in equilibrium.

Vedclass · Answer

(A) For a system of point charges to be in equilibrium, the net electrostatic force on each individual charge must be zero.In an equilateral triangle, the forces exerted by any two charges on the third charge are directed along the sides of the triangle.Since these forces are vectors acting at $60^{\circ}$ to each other, their resultant can only be zero if the charges are such that the vector sum of forces is zero.However, for three point charges at the vertices of an equilateral triangle, it is mathematically impossible for the net force on all three charges to be zero simultaneously, regardless of the magnitudes or signs of the charges.Therefore, the system can never be in equilibrium under the influence of electrostatic forces alone.

Three point charges are placed at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Assuming only electrostatic forces are acting, which of the following statements is true?

Similar Questions

$A$ long cylindrical shell carries positive surface charge $\sigma$ in the upper half and negative surface charge $-\sigma$ in the lower half. The electric field lines around the cylinder will look like the figure given in:

Which of the following patterns of electric field lines is $NOT$ possible for an electrostatic field due to static charges?

$A$ glass rod rubbed with silk is used to charge a gold leaf electroscope and the leaves are observed to diverge. The electroscope thus charged is exposed to $X$-rays for a short period. Then

Vedclass Test Series

Exam Paper Generator

Online Exam Module