How to Calculate Electric Field Strength and Force on a Charge

What is the electric field strength at a point 3.8 cm to the left of the middle charge?

Answer in units of N/C.

What is the magnitude of the force on a charge of 4.3 C placed at this point?

Answer in units of N.

Answer:

The electric field strength at a point 3.8 cm to the left of the middle charge is the sum of the electric field strengths created by the 1.7 μC and -4.3 μC charges. The magnitude of the force on a charge of 4.3 C placed at this point can be calculated by multiplying the charge with the electric field strength.

To find the electric field strength at a point 3.8 cm to the left of the middle charge, we need to calculate the electric field strength created by each charge and then sum them up.

Let's consider the charges one by one:

The electric field strength created by the 1.7 μC charge at a distance of 5.6 cm can be calculated using the formula E = k * (Q / r^2). Plugging in the values, we get E1 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (1.7 x 10^-6 C) / (0.056 m)^2.

The electric field strength created by the -4.3 μC charge at a distance of 1.8 cm can be calculated using the same formula. Plugging in the values, we get E2 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (-4.3 x 10^-6 C) / (0.018 m)^2.

Now, we can sum up the electric field strengths to find the total electric field strength at the point 3.8 cm to the left of the middle charge:

E_total = E1 + E2.

Once we have the electric field strength, we can calculate the force on a charge of 4.3 C placed at this point using the formula F = q * E. Plugging in the values, we get F = (4.3 C) * E_total.