Electrical Circuits

Let the known positive charge at point be .

We are told that:

• The net electric force on is zero
• is closer to than to

For the forces to cancel each other:

• must attract if is negative, or repel it if is positive
• Similarly, must either attract or repel depending on its sign

Let’s assume both and are positive: Then both repel , and the forces are in opposite directions. For net force to be zero, the magnitudes must be equal. Since is closer to , the force due to would naturally be stronger unless its charge is smaller. So, to balance, must have smaller magnitude than . Therefore, the charges are of the same sign, and since is closer to , for forces to cancel, we must have:



Answer: (D) and have the same sign, but magnitude of is greater than the magnitude of