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A positive test charge will accelerate toward regions of?

User Coldbrew
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Final answer:

A positive test charge will accelerate toward regions of lower potential, as it is repelled by like charges and attracted by unlike charges. It moves from high potential to low potential, seeking to lower its electrical potential energy in accordance with Coulomb's law and the conventions of electric field lines representation.

Step-by-step explanation:

A positive test charge will accelerate toward regions of lower potential because it seeks to move from an area of high potential to an area of low potential, analogous to how fluid flows from high pressure to low pressure. According to Coulomb's law, like charges repel each other, and unlike charges attract. Therefore, a positive test charge placed near a positive charge will be repelled, while a positive charge near a negative charge will be attracted. Additionally, electric field lines are an illustrated representation of this phenomenon as they point away from positive charges and towards negative charges.

For a positive charge, moving to a lower potential means it is moving in the direction of the electrostatic force it feels in an electric field. This is consistent with the concept of the electric field (E), which is defined in terms of the force a positive test charge would experience. Overall, the behavior of a positive charge in an electric field illustrates that positive charges tend to move towards regions where they can lower their electrical potential energy.

User Skela
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