(a) Six equal charges have been placed at the vertices of a regular hexagon. Charge at vertex A is moved to the centre of the hexagon and there it experiences a net electrostatic force of magnitude F. Charge at E is also moved to the centre so as to double the magnitude of the charge at the centre. Calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force that this central charge experiences now. (b) Three charges of equal magnitude lie on the vertices of an equilateral triangle ABC. All of them are released simultaneously. The charge at A experiences initial acceleration along AD where D is the midpoint of the side BC. Find the direction of initial acceleration of the charge at B.

Answer

(a). 2F towards point F
(b). In a direction making an angle of `60^(@)` with BA (NOT along BC).