Three identical charges are placed at corners of an equilateral triangle of side l. If force between any two charges is F, then the work required to double the dimension of triangle is :
The potential energy of three charge system is U=k[q1q2r12+q1q3r13+q2q3r23]
when three identical charge q are held at corner of equilateral triangle, the potential energy is
Ui=k[qql+qql+qql]=3kq2l
Force between any two charges is F=kq2l2....(1)
when dimension is doubled (l=2l), the potential energy is
Uf=k[qq2l+qq2l+qq2l]=3kq22l
The work done W= change in potential energy =Uf−Ui=3kq22l−3kq2l=−3kq22l=(−3/2)Fl using (1)