Three identical charges, each with a value of 1.0 10⁻⁸ C , are situated at the corners of an equilateral triangle having a side length of 20 cm . Determine the electric field and potential at the centre of the triangle.

Step-by-step solution

Due to the symmetry of the equilateral triangle, the electric field vectors at the centroid due to the three identical charges are equal in magnitude and separated by an angle of 120^ . Their vector sum is zero. Thus, the net electric field at the centre is zero. The distance r from any corner to the centroid of an equilateral triangle of side a is given by r = a 3 . Given a = 20 cm = 0.2 m , we have r = 0.2 3 m . The electric potential is a scalar quantity. The net potential at the centre is the sum of the potenti