Question

Three equal charges of 5 microcoulomb each are placed at the three vertices of an equilateral triangle of side 5 cm each calculate the electrostatic potential energy of the system of the charge.

Answer 1

Answer:

U = 4.5 J

Explanation:

Let the charges be Q1 , Q2 AND Q3. Hence we have the following pairs

Q1 Q2 , Q2 Q3 and Q3 Q1.

now since the magnitude and distance between them are same, we can write it as

Potential Energy(U) = k(5 x 10⁻⁶)(5 x 10⁻⁶) / (5 x 10⁻²)

U = 4.5 J       [ k = 9 x 10⁹]