Considering the four electric charges forming a square with magnitude of charge of 2.0 nC on each. :
A) Magnitude of the force on the 5.5 nC charge in the middle of the figure = 3.48 * 10^-4 N
B) Direction of the force on the 5.5 nC charge in the middle of the figure = Leftward ( negative x -axis )
Using the given data :
size of square = 4 cm
magnitudes of four charges = 2.0 nC
a) magnitude of the force on the center charge
Electric force between two point charges = [tex]F = \frac{1}{4\pi *E_{o} } \frac{q1q2}{r^2}[/tex] ----- ( 1 )
where ; [tex]\frac{1}{4\pi E_{o} } = 9 * 10^9 Nm^2/C^2[/tex]
step 1 ; find r ( distance between charges )
r² = ( 2 )² + ( 2 )² = 8 cm²
back to equation 1
F = 9 * 10⁹ * [tex]\frac{2 * 10^{-9} * (5.5 * 10^{-9}) }{8*10^{-4} }[/tex] = 1.23 * 10^-4 N
∴ magnitude of the force on the center charge ( Fnet )= 4F cos 45°
= 4 * ( 1.23 * 10^-4 ) * [tex]\frac{1}{\sqrt{2} }[/tex] = 3.48 * 10^-4 N
b) The direction of the force at the center is along the negative x-axis ( leftward )
Learn more : https://brainly.com/question/24139734
