Electrostatics
4.0 Principle of superposition
4.0 Principle of superposition
The interaction between any two charges is independent of the presence of all other charges.
The electrostatic force is a vector quantity. Therefore, the net force on any one charge is the vector sum of all the forces exerted on it due to each of the other charges interacting with it independently.
The principle of superposition of forces holds good for any number of charges.
So, the total force on charge $q$ is, $$\overrightarrow F = {\overrightarrow F _1} + {\overrightarrow F _2} + {\overrightarrow F _3} + ... + {\overrightarrow F _n}$$
