- #1
wildredhead
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Homework Statement
A small sphere carrying a charge of q with mass m is suspended from point A by a massless thread of length L, as shown in the figure. A second sphere carrying a charge of 2q with mass M is suspended from a fixed rod from point B. The distance between A and B is equal to d. At equilibrium the two spheres lie in the same horizontal plane and the thread makes an angle (theta) with the vertical.
a.) draw a free body diagram for the sphere suspended from point A.
b.) find an expression for the mass m in terms of q, L, theta, d ,g (gravitation acceleration), and k( Coulumb constant)
c. Find an espression for the tension T in the tread
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
My free body diagram consits of three forces: Fg pointing directly down from the sphere, Fe pointing directly left from the sphere. The problem doresn't have any negative charges so i figured they would be repeling therefore pointing left away from 2q. and I have Ft on L pointing upwards.
I have no idea how to approach the expression for mass. I was thinking that all the forces acting on the system would equal 0, but I don't know how to incorporate that into anything.
For c I did some searching online. So now I know the vertical component of tension to be equal to Fg. Fx then, would be equal to Fg(tangent(theta)) So Ft = Fg(tan(theta)) + Fg?