How we got there
Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.
Explain in another language · 11
1. What is the question asking?
Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: Q₁ = +4 µC and Q₂ = −2 µC are 0.40 m apart, with Q₂ to the right of Q₁. Point P lies on the line between them, 0.20 m from Q₁. Find the net electric field at P. k = 9 × 10⁹ N·m²·C⁻².
Before any working — hunt first
Given
Numbers and units already in the sentence: 4 µC · 2 µC · 0.40 m · 0.20 m · 9 · 10. Copy each one into a column. A name without a number is not given.
Missing
After you copy the given, the letter that still has no number is missing. The paper is pointing at: the net electric field at P. Circle that word — that is the missing variable.
Find
We are required to find: the net electric field at P. Write that as a symbol on the left, with a question mark, before you touch a formula.
Calculate
Write E₁ = 9.00 × 10⁵ N·C⁻¹ with empty letters. Cross out every letter that already has a number. Calculate the letter that is still standing — that gives the net electric field at P.
In other words — as if you have never seen this before
If you have never seen this before: Find E = kQr² for each charge (magnitude). The field points away from a positive charge and towards a negative charge. Add the two fields as vectors. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.
2. What do we already know?
Q₁=+4 µC, Q₂=−2 µC; r₁=0.20 m, r₂=0.20 m. Take right as positive.
3. Which method — and why this one?
Find E = kQr² for each charge (magnitude). The field points away from a positive charge and towards a negative charge. Add the two fields as vectors.
4. Step-by-step working
01 / 06
Field from Q₁
E₁ = (9 × 10⁹)(4 × 10⁻⁶)/0.200² = 9.00 × 10⁵ N·C⁻¹, to the right.
E₁=9.00×10⁵ N·C⁻¹Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
02 / 06
Field from Q₂
E₂ = (9 × 10⁹)(2 × 10⁻⁶)/0.200² = 4.50 × 10⁵ N·C⁻¹, to the right.
E₂=4.50×10⁵ N·C⁻¹Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
03 / 06
Add as vectors
Enet=+9.00×10⁵+4.50×10⁵.
Enet=1.35×10⁶ N·C⁻¹Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
04 / 06
Step G — Sense-check the size
Ask: is this the kind of number a Grade 10–12 paper would want? A speed of 3 000 ms for a learner walking, or a probability bigger than 1, means a unit or algebra slip. Estimate first: round the numbers and do the sum in your head.
Why this step: Markers write ‘unrealistic’ in the margin when the method is right but the size is wild. A 10-second head check often finds a missing 10² or a unit that never changed.
05 / 06
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
1.35 × 10⁶ N·C⁻¹ to the right
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
06 / 06
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.
5. The answer
1.35 × 10⁶ N·C⁻¹ to the right
Copy onto your answer sheet — in this order
Formula: E₁=9.00×10⁵ N·C⁻¹
Answer: 1.35 × 10⁶ N·C⁻¹ to the right
6. Check it like a marker
Fields from two LIKE charges oppose each other between them; fields from UNLIKE charges point the same way and add.
7. A trap first-timers fall into
First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”