Say there are three charges positioned at the corners of anequilateral triangle.

Question

Say there are three charges positioned at the corners of anequilateral triangle. There are 2 charges with +q and 1 charge with-q
1. Is there a point inside the triangle made by the chargeswhere the electric field is zero? Explain. 2. Is there a point inside the triangle made by the chargeswhere the electric potential is zero? Explain.
1. Is there a point inside the triangle made by the chargeswhere the electric field is zero? Explain. 2. Is there a point inside the triangle made by the chargeswhere the electric potential is zero? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

1. No. There is no point where E field is zero.This is because E field is a vector, much like a force. Efield points away from the two positive charges and toward the onenegative charge. Because of this, there is no point at whichthe three E field vectors could "balance" each otherwithin the triangle. . To test this, try different points within the triangle.For any given point, draw a line pointing from each positivecharge to the point and draw a line from the point pointing to thenegative charge. Then imagine these lines are forces... and you caneasily see there is no possible way for them to balance eachother. . 2. Yes. Potential can be zero within the triangle,because it is a scalar quantity. Potential from positive charges ispositive, while potential from negative charges is negative. Anypoint (there are many) which is twice as far from the two positivecharges as it is from the negative charge will create a situationwhere the negative potential will equal the two positivepotentials... and the sum will be zero. .

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