Question

A scientist wipes a rubber rod with a wool which leads to a negative charge on the rod. After this, the scientist touches the rod to a neutral metal shape. What will happen?

1) The negative charge will transfer from the rod to the metal shape
2) The metal shape will become positively charged
3) The metal shape will become negatively charged
4) The charge on the rod will remain the same

Answer 1

Upon contact with the negatively charged rubber rod, the neutral metal shape will become negatively charged through the transfer of electrons from the rod to the metal.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a negatively charged rubber rod is wiped with wool, it accumulates excess electrons due to the transfer of charge from the wool to the rod, causing the rod to become negatively charged. Upon touching the charged rod to a neutral metal shape, the negative charge will transfer from the rod to the metal. This is because metals are good conductors of electricity, and when a charged object comes into contact with a conductor, the charge is shared between them - in this case, the electrons move to the neutral metal shape. As a result, the metal shape will become negatively charged because negative charges have been transferred to it, and the rod will have less negative charge than before. Charge distribution is at the core of this interaction, and because the metal shape is initially neutral, it will not become positively charged.