Electrostatics = stumped

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sjhalverson

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I can't seem to get this right:

three positive charges (+1e +2e +3e) are sitting in a row with 5 mm between them. What is the potential energy of the system?

Soln: 4.38x10^-25J

Any ideas?
 
I forget the exact reason why, I think its because electrical potential energy (EPE) is a state function (path independent) so you can calculate the electrical potential energies in between each of the particles, and then sum them up to get U of the system, which is the same as EPE of the system since I'm assuming all 3 particles are at rest.

k = 9 x 10^9 (I don't recall the units off the top of my head, but you can easily do a dimensional analysis to figure it out; its also equal to [4*pi*epsilon]^-1)
1e = 1.6 x 10^-19 C

EPE = kQ1Q2/d

EPE1 = EPE between 1e and 2e, d is 5 x 10^-3 m
EPE2 = EPE between 1e and 3e, d is 1 x 10^-2 m
EPE3 = EPE between 2e and 3e, d is 5 x 10^-3 m

EPE1 + EPE2 + EPE3 should get 4.38 x 10^-25 J.

Let me know if I'm wrong, or if I'm right and my reasoning happens to still be wrong.

Edit: Just did the calculation, I get 4.3776 x 10^-25 J. So it's correct.
 
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