Walker, Halliday & Resnick — Electric Potential: Problem 37

37 Two tiny metal spheres A and B, mass \( m_A = 5.00 \text{ g} \) and \( m_B = 10.0 \text{ g} \), have equal positive charge \( q = 5.00 \text{ \(\mu\)C} \). The spheres are connected by a massless nonconducting string of length \( d = 3.00 \text{ m} \), which is much greater than the radii of the spheres. (a) What is the electric potential energy of the system? (b) Suppose you cut the string. At that instant, what is the acceleration of each sphere? (c) A long time after you cut the string, what is the speed of each sphere?