By knowing that the total charge must remain constant, we will see that:
c)
- Sphere A will have: -4.0 C
- Sphere B will have: 0.5 C
- Sphere C will have: 0.5 C
- Total = -3.0 C
d)
- Sphere A will have: -1.0 C
- Sphere B will have: -1.0 C
- Sphere C will have: -1.0 C
- Total = -3.0 C
What happens when we touch the charged spheres?
If these are conductor spheres, we can assume that the charge flows through the spheres.
So, when two touches, the charge tries to equilibrate.
When sphere B and sphere C touch, the total charge between them would be equally distributed between the two spheres.
Charge B = -8.0 C
Charge C = +9.0 C
Total = -8.0 C + 9.0 C = 1.0 C
half of that is 0.5 C
Then now both sphere B and sphere C will have 2.5C each.
And sphere A still has the -4.0 C
Then the total of the 3 spheres is:
0.5C + 0.5C - 4.0C = -3.0C
The total charge never changes in a closed system, remember that.
D) Similar to before, this time the total charge will be equally distributed among the 3 spheres.
The total charge is -3.0C
So:
- Sphere A will have: -1.0 C
- Sphere B will have: -1.0 C
- Sphere C will have: -1.0 C
And the total charge will be:
-1.0 C + -1.0 C + -1.0 C = -3.0C
If you want to learn more about charge conservation, you can read:
https://brainly.com/question/166559
