## Force between multiple charges (Superposition principle of electrostatic forces)

Principle of Superposition for Electric force:

If a system contains a number of interacting charges, then the net force on anyone charge equals the vector sum of all the forces exerted on it by all the other charges. This is the principle of Superposition for electric force.

If a system contains n point charges $q_{1},q_{2},q_{3}........q_{n}$. Then according to the principle of superposition, the force acting on the charge due to all the other charges

$\overrightarrow{F_{1}}=\overrightarrow{F_{12}}+\overrightarrow{F_{13}}+\overrightarrow{F_{14}}+...+\overrightarrow{F_{1n}} \qquad (1)$

Where $\overrightarrow{F_{12}}$ is the force on charge $q_{1}$ due to charge $q_{2}$, $\overrightarrow{F_{13}}$ that is due to $q_{3}$ and $\overrightarrow{F_{1n}}$ that due to $q_{n}$.

If the distance between the charges $q_{1}$ and $q_{2}$ is $\widehat{r}_{12}$ (magnitude only) and $\widehat{r}_{21}$ is unit vector from charge $q_{2}$ to $q_{1}$, then

$\overrightarrow{F_{12}}=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r_{12}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{21}} \qquad (2)$

Similarly, the forces on charge $q_{1}$ due to other charges are given by

$\overrightarrow{F_{13}}=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}\:\frac{q_{1}q_{3}}{r_{13}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{31}}\qquad (3)$

$.............................$

$.............................$

$\overrightarrow{F_{1n}}=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}\:\frac{q_{1}q_{n}}{r_{1n}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{n1}}\qquad (n)$

Hence, putting the value of $\overrightarrow{F_{12}},\overrightarrow{F_{13}},\overrightarrow{F_{14}}......\overrightarrow{F_{1n}}$, in equation $(1)$, the total force on charge $q_{1}$ due to all other charges is given by

 $\overrightarrow{F_{1}}=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}[\:\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r_{12}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{21}}+\frac{q_{1}q_{3}}{r_{13}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{31}}+....\\ \quad\quad\quad ..+\frac{q_{1}q_{n}}{r_{1n}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{n1}}]$

The same procedure can be applied to finding the force on any other charge due to all the remaining charges. For example, the force on $q_{2}$ due to all the other charges is given by

 $\overrightarrow{F_{2}}=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}[\:\frac{q_{2}q_{1}}{r_{21}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{12}}+\frac{q_{2}q_{3}}{r_{23}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{32}}+... \\ \quad\quad\quad ..+\frac{q_{2}q_{n}}{r_{2n}^{2}}\:\hat{r_{n2}}\:]$

Some Observations Points of Coulomb's Law:

There are the following point has been observed in Coulomb's law, that are
1. Coulomb's force between the two charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitude of the charge.

 $F\propto q_{1}q_{2}$

2. Coulomb's force between the two charges is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two charges.

 $F\propto \frac{1}{r^{2}}$

3. The electrostatic force acts between the line joining the charges. In two charges, one charge is assumed to be at rest for the calculation of the force on the second charge. So It is also known as a central force.

4. The magnitude of the electrostatic force is equal and the direction of force is opposite. So the electrostatic force is also known as the action and reaction pair.

5. The electrostatic force between two charge does not affect by the presence and absence of any other charges but the net force increase on the source charge.