A charge -q1 is kept at a distance y from the origin on Y-axis and ano...
Problem: Find the value of x for the x-component of the force on q1 to be maximum when a charge -q1 is kept at a distance y from the origin on Y-axis and another charge -q2 is kept at a distance x from the origin on X-axis.
Solution:To find the value of x for the x-component of the force on q1 to be maximum, we need to find the expression for the force acting on q1, and then differentiate it with respect to x to find the value of x that maximizes the force.
Let us consider the charges -q1 and -q2 at their respective positions as shown in the figure below:
From Coulomb's law, the force F1 on charge q1 due to charge q2 is given by:
F1 = kq1q2 / r^2
where k is the Coulomb constant, r is the distance between the charges, and q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges.
In our case, r is given by:
r = √(x^2 + y^2)
The x-component of the force F1 is given by:
Fx1 = F1 cosθ
where θ is the angle between the force vector and the x-axis.
To find θ, we draw a line from q1 to q2 and extend it to meet the x-axis at point P as shown in the figure below:
From the figure, we can see that:
tanθ = y / x
Therefore,
cosθ = x / r
Substituting the value of r and cosθ in the expression for Fx1, we get:
Fx1 = kq1q2x / (x^2 + y^2)^(3/2)
To find the value of x that maximizes Fx1, we differentiate Fx1 with respect to x and equate it to zero:
dFx1/dx = kq1q2[(x^2 + y^2)^(3/2) - 3x^2(x^2 + y^2)^(1/2)] / (x^2 + y^2)^3 = 0
Solving for x, we get:
x = y / √2
Therefore, the value of x for the x-component of the force on q1 to be maximum is x = y / √2.
Answer: x = y / √2.