four particles each of mass m are located at the vertices of a square of side L.the gravitational potential due to this at the center of the square is??
i wonder that why isnt the gravitational potential not cancelling acc to princip of superposition and also what does the negative sign in the answer imply??
pls reply fast

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Solution

we know that The gravittaional potential V of a unit mass m at a distance x from a point mass of mass M can be defined as the work W that needs to be done by an external agent to bring the unit mass in from infinity to that point, V= W/m = - Gm/x

Applying this in the below case we get as

Hence the potential at the centre is **V p= - 4 * [2]^ 1/2 * GM / L**

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