Physics · Ch 10 — Electrostatics
Forces between Charges
Forces between Charges
Careful, controlled experiments with charged objects reveal that any two charged bodies brought close together -- without actually touching -- exert a measurable FORCE on each other, and this force can be either attractive (pulling the two bodies together) or repulsive (pushing them apart). Systematic observation across many such experiments established a simple qualitative rule: LIKE charges (both positive, or both negative) always REPEL one another, while UNLIKE charges (one positive, one negative) always ATTRACT one another (Fig. 10.2). …
What this figure shows. Two side-by-side schematic pairs of charged spheres/point charges: in one pair, both charges carry the SAME sign (either both drawn with '+' symbols or both with '-' symbols), with force arrows on each sphere pointing AWAY from the other sphere, illustrating REPULSION between like charges; in the other pair, the two charges carry OPPOSITE signs (one '+' and one '-'), with force arrows on each sphere pointing TOWARD the other sphere, illustrating ATTRACTION between unlike charges. The figure is purely qualitative/schematic, giving the pictorial statement of 'like charges repel, unlike charges attract' that Coulomb's law (sect …