The electrostatic force on charge 3 is 16.9 N to the right
Explanation:
The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charges is given by Coulomb's law:
where:
is the Coulomb's constant
are the two charges
r is the separation between the two charges
The force is attractive if the two charges have opposite sign and repulsive if the two charges have same sign.
Here we have to find the total force on the 3rd charge, so we have to calculate the vector sum of the forces produced by the other 2 charges.
For the force due to charge 1, we have

Charge 1 is located at x = 10 cm while charge 3 is at x = -2 cm, so their distance is

So the force between them is

And the direction of the force on charge 3 is to the left, since the force is repulsive (charges have same sign)
For the force due to charge 2, we have

Charge 2 is located at x = 8 cm while charge 3 is at x = -2 cm, so their distance is

So the force between them is

And the direction of the force on charge 3 is to the right, since the force is attractive (charges have opposite sign)
Therefore, the net force on charge 3 is

So, the net force is 16.9 N to the right.
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