Question

Understanding charges on objects

Answer 1

Attractive force develop between two objects with opposite charges, two objects that are of like charge will repel each other. That is, a positively charged object will exert a repulsive force upon a second positively charged object.

Answer 2

Suppose that you rubbed a balloon with a sample of animal fur such as a wool sweater or even your own hair. The balloon would likely become charged and its charge would exert a strange influence upon other objects in its vicinity. If some small bits of paper were placed upon a table and the balloon were brought near and held above the paper bits, then the presence of the charged balloon might create a sufficient attraction for the paper bits to raise them off the table. This influence - known as an electric force - occurs even when the charged balloon is held some distance away from the paper bits. The electric force is a non-contact force. Any charged object can exert this force upon other objects - both charged and uncharged objects. One goal of this unit of The Physics Classroom is to understand the nature of the electric force. In this part of Lesson 1, two simple and fundamental statements will be made and explained about the nature of the electric force.