Question

A 10-cm-long thin glass rod uniformly charged to 15.0 nC and a 10-cm-long thin plastic rod uniformly charged to -15.0 nC are placed in a vacuum. What is the nature of the force between them?

A) Attraction
B) Repulsion
C) No force

Answer 1

The nature of the force between the glass and plastic rods is attraction.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nature of the force between the two charged rods can be determined by considering their charges. The glass rod is uniformly charged to 15.0 nC, which is positive, and the plastic rod is uniformly charged to -15.0 nC, which is negative.

According to Coulomb's law, like charges repel each other, and opposite charges attract each other. Since the glass rod is positive and the plastic rod is negative, they have opposite charges, so the nature of the force between them is attraction (Option A).

It's important to note that Coulomb's law only applies to point charges. If the charges are distributed over some area and do not act like point charges, the answer to this problem might be affected. In that case, the force between the rods would depend on the distribution of charge over their surfaces.