Three charges each of magnitude 3 C , are placed on the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side 6 cm . The net potential energy of the system will be nearly [ 1 4 ₀ =9 10^9 . SI unit ]

Step-by-step solution

The net electrostatic potential energy for a system of point charges is the scalar sum of the potential energies for each distinct pair. Given three equal charges q = 3 10⁻⁶ , C placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side length r = 6 10⁻² , m , the three unique pairs are symmetric and identical. The potential energy for one pair is U_ pair = 1 4 ₀ q^2 r . With 1 4 ₀ = 9 10^9 , N m^2/C^2 , the total energy is U_ total = 3 1 4 ₀ q^2 r = 3 (9 10^9) (3 10⁻⁶)^2 6 10⁻² . Simplifying, U_ total = 27 10^9 9 1