Forces Between two Charged Plates

When a positive charge moves between two oppositely charged parallel plates against the electric field a force equal and opposite to qE has to be applied to maintain electrical equilibrium,now why dont these forces cancel out and the charge remain suspended?i guess it may turn out to be a stupid question but still
- ibrahim (age 17)
peshawar pakistan

The force depends both on the charge on the plate and on which side of the particle it's on. If you switch both which side it's on and what its charge is, you switch the sign of the force twice. So the forces from the two plates on the particle point the same way, so long as the particle is in between the plates.

Mike W.

(published on 03/10/2016)