23.

7: a)
 ( 4.00 nC)( 3.00 nC) ( 4.00 nC)( 2.00 nC) 
  
 q1q2 q1q2 q1q2   (0.200 m ) (0.100m ) 

U  k     k
 r12 r13 r23 

 ( 3.00 nC)( 2.00 nC) 
  
 (0.100 m ) 
  3.60  10  7 J.

q q qq q q 
b) If U  0, 0  k  1 2  1 3  2 3 . So solving for x we find:
 r12 x r12  x 
8 6
0   60    60 x 2  26 x  1.6  0  x  0.074 m, 0.360 m. Therefore
x 0.2  x
x  0.074 m since it is the only value between the two charges.