Answer
3, 1, 2, 4
Work Step by Step
All the charges have the same charge magnitude
Due to this the difference between the electrostatic force on the central particle will be the distance of the charged particle to the central particle
The closer the charged particle is to the central particle the stronger the electrostatic force
Let the central particle be positively charged
d is for unknown distance
the particles one d from the central particle will have 1F
while the particles 2d from the central particle will have 2F
(1) = 1F + 2F + 2F - 1F
= 4F
(2) = -1F -2F + 2F -1F
= -2F *the negative is for the direction of the force and not the magnitude
And could also be written as: 2F [-i]
(3) = 1F + 2F + 2F + 1F
=6F
(4) = 1F - 2F + 2F - F
= 0
3 has the largest electrostatic force, followed by 1 , then 2 and finally 4
