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A charge of 1 μC is placed on each of five corners of a regular hexagon of side 1 m. The electric field at its centre is ______ N C⁻¹.

Asked in GUJCET 2019 · Field of discrete charges

Answer: (4) 10⁻⁶K

Step-by-step solution

Given: q = 1 μC = 10⁻⁶ C on five corners of a regular hexagon of side 1 m; each corner is r = 1 m from the centre, since a regular hexagon's side equals its centre-to-corner distance.

Idea: charges at opposite corners produce equal and opposite fields at the centre.

Of the five filled corners, two opposite pairs cancel; the charge opposite the empty corner is left unpaired.

E = (Kq)/(r²) = (K×10⁻⁶)/(1²) = 10⁻⁶K

The field points from that unpaired charge towards the empty corner.

So E = 10⁻⁶K N C⁻¹.

Why the other options are wrong

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