JEE Main 2026 — Electrostatics Question with Solution
JEE Main 2026 (22 January Shift 2)
Question
Five positive charges each having charge are placed at the vertices of a pentagon as shown in the figure. The electric potential and the electric field at the center of the pentagon due to these five positive charges are:
Choose an option
Show full solutionCorrect option: B
Correct answer
B
Step-by-step explanation
The electric potential at center O is the scalar sum of contributions from all 5 charges.
Each charge is equidistant from center, so .
The electric field is a vector sum of field vectors from all 5 charges.
Due to 5-fold rotational symmetry of a regular pentagon, the 5 field vectors point radially outward from center, equally spaced at 72° angles.
The vector sum of 5 equally spaced unit vectors is zero, so .
Each charge is equidistant from center, so .
The electric field is a vector sum of field vectors from all 5 charges.
Due to 5-fold rotational symmetry of a regular pentagon, the 5 field vectors point radially outward from center, equally spaced at 72° angles.
The vector sum of 5 equally spaced unit vectors is zero, so .
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This is a previous-year question from JEE Main 2026, covering the Electrostatics chapter of Physics. PrepSharp catalogues every PYQ from JEE Main with a verified answer key and step-by-step solution prepared by IIT alumni — so you can search by chapter, topic or year and revise efficiently.