Question

Three charges \( +q \) are placed at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side \( a \). What would be the total electrostatic potential energy (in terms of \( k \))?

• A. \( kq^2 / a \)
• B. \( 2kq^2 / a \)
• C. \( 3kq^2 / a \)
• D. \( 4kq^2 / a \)

Hint:

For symmetric charge distributions, calculate the potential energy for one pair and multiply by the number of pairs. In an equilateral triangle, there are 3 charge pairs.