Posted by Bill on .
Two identical conducting spheres, fixed in place, attract each other with a force of 0.114 N when their center to center separation is 45.00 cm. The spheres are then connected by a thin conducting wire. When the wire is removed, the spheres have a net positive charge and repel each other with an electrostatic force of 0.044 N. What was the initial negative charge on one of the spheres, and what was the initial positive charge on the other?(Hint: Use charge conservation and solve for one of the initial charges. You will end up with a quadratic equation. The solutions give you the positive and negative charges.)
I've done all of this, and I have the initial positive charge, which is 2.88199e-6 Coulombs. But I can't get the initial negative charge. Nothing that I do will give me the correct answer. Do you have any ideas?