A large electroscope is made with "leaves" that are 78-cm-long wires with tiny 24-g spheres at the ends. When charged, nearly all the charge resides on the spheres. When charged, nearly all the charge resides on the spheres. If the wires each make a 26 ∘ angle with the vertical (see the figure(Figure 1) ), what total charge Q must have been applied to the electroscope? Ignore the mass of the wires. Please help! I keep getting the same wrong answer!

Question

anonymous · Answer

Have you taken into account that the total charge will be shared equally between the two spheres ?

anonymous · Answer

I believe so. I keep getting 2.4x10^-6 C

anonymous · Answer

The total charge on the electroscope is equal to twice the charge on each sphere. I calculated a total charge of 4.89 x 10^-6 C, so it looks like you have correctly calculated the charge on each individual sphere.

anonymous · Answer

Thank you so much! 
I didn't realize that you had to add the charges together

anonymous · Answer

You're welcome !

anonymous · Answer

I have a couple of other physics problems I am having problems with