Three charges +Q, +Q, and –Q, are located at the corners of

an equilateral triangle with sides of length a. What is the force

on the charge located at point P (see diagram)?

y
F1
F   F1x  F2x  ˆi   F1y  F2y  ˆj
P

+Q
 F   F1 cos   F2 cos   ˆi
F2   F1 sin   F2 sin   ˆj
a
 Q Q Q2
F1  k k 2
=60
a2 a
+Q -Q
x
 Q Q  Q2
F2  k k 2
a2 a
Note: if there is not a problem like this on Exam 1, there will be one on the Final!
Three charges +Q, +Q, and –Q, are located at the corners of
an equilateral triangle with sides of length a. What is the force
on the charge located at point P (see diagram)?

y
F1  kQ 2 kQ 2 ˆ
F   2 cos 60  2 cos 60  i
P
  a a 
+Q
  kQ 2 kQ 2 ˆ
  2 sin 60  2 sin 60 j
F2  a a 
a

+Q -Q
x

I could have stated that Fy=0 and Fx=2F1x by

symmetry, but I decided to do the full calculation here.
Three charges +Q, +Q, and –Q, are located at the corners of
an equilateral triangle with sides of length a. What is the force
on the charge located at point P (see diagram)?

y
F1 kQ2
F  2 2 cos 60 ˆi
P a

+Q
 F
F2 kQ 2 ˆ
F 2 i
a a

+Q -Q
x
What is the electric field at P due to the two charges at the
base of the triangle?
You can “repeat” the above calculation,
y
replacing F by E (and using Coulomb’s Law).

P Or you can be smart… F  qE

kQ2
î
F a 2 kQ ˆ
E   2 i
a q Q a

This is the which had been at

+Q -Q point P, “feeling” the force F.
x

Caution: never write q  E . Why?

F