Question

A plastic rod becomes negatively charged when rubbed with a piece of wool. A glass rod becomes positively charged when rubbed with a piece of silk. Two rods are brought together in the following scenarios. For each scenario, is there a force? If so, do the rods attract or repel one another?

(circle one)
Charged plastic
Charged glass
No force
Attractive force
Repulsive force

Uncharged plastic
Charged glass
No force
Attractive force
Repulsive force

Answer 1

Charged plastic and Charged glass will attract due to opposite charges, while Uncharged plastic and Charged glass will also attract because of induced charges. The principles of electrostatics demonstrate that like charges repel and unlike charges attract. In both scenarios there will be a attractive force.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a plastic rod is rubbed with wool, it becomes negatively charged and when a glass rod is rubbed with silk, it becomes positively charged.

According to the principle that opposite charges attract and like charges repel, we can determine the nature of the force between these rods in different scenarios.

• Charged plastic and Charged glass: These rods will have opposite charges and will exhibit an attractive force between them.
• Uncharged plastic and Charged glass: Since the plastic rod is neutral and the glass rod is positively charged, there will be an attractive force as well, due to the induced charges on the plastic rod.

For instance, rubbed with silk in this manner, two glass rods will repel each other due to having the same positive charge, while two silk cloths will also repel each other because they will both have a negative charge after rubbing.