The picture above shows three charged particles, with each particle located at o

Question

The picture above shows three charged particles, with each particle located at one corner of an equilateral triangle. Some lines of symmetry are drawn on the picture, too, for reference. (This is a two-dimensional picture, not a three-dimensional picture!). The blue charge is negative, and the red charges are positive. The purple arrows attached to each charge show the net force applied to that charge by the other two charged particles.

(a) Rank the three charges (charge 1, at bottom left; charge 2, at bottom right; and charge 3, at the top), based on their magnitudes, from largest to smallest. Use only > and/or = signs in your ranking, such as 1>2=3.

Explanation / Answer

if q3 had been equal to q2 then q1 would have moved along the symmetry line bisecting the angle at 1

but it is biased towards q3 ==> q3>q2

also |q1|< q3 as q2 seems least biased towards 1

if |q1| = q2 then q3 would have been force parallel to x axis,but being forced upwards ==>q2>|q1|

q3>q2>|q1|

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