Two charges $+80 \mu \mathrm{C}$ and $+20 \mu \mathrm{C}$ are separated by a distance in air. An unknown…
- $-20 \mu \mathrm{C}$
- $+20 \mu \mathrm{C}$
- $-10 \mu \mathrm{C}$
- $-4 \mu \mathrm{C}$
Solution

Since, charges are in equilibrium, $\begin{aligned} & \frac{k Q_1 q}{r^2 / 4}+\frac{k Q_1 Q_2}{r^2}+\frac{k Q_2 q}{r^2 / 4}=0 \\ & \Rightarrow \frac{4 k \times 80 \times q}{r^2}+\frac{k \times 80 \times 20}{r^2}+\frac{4 k \times 20 \times q}{r^2}=0 \\ & \Rightarrow 4 \times 80 \times q+4 \times 20 \times q=-80 \times 20 \\ & \Rightarrow \quad 4 q+q=-20 \\ & \Rightarrow \quad 5 q=-20 \\ & \Rightarrow \quad q=-4 \mu \mathrm{C} \\ & \end{aligned}$
Asked in: AP EAMCET 2021 (25 Aug Shift 2)