Question

Which of the following is the correct explanation of the diagram shown below? (+) and (-) indicate positive and negative charges respectively.

• A. Like charges attract each other while unlike charges repel.
• B. Unlike charges repel each other.
• C. Like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract.
• D. Charges do not interact with each other.

Answer 1

The correct option is C Like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract.

Like charges repel each other because of the repulsive forces acting between them. This explains the images (a) and (b) where the positive charges (in blue) and the negative charges (in red) want to be as far away from each other as possible.
Meanwhile, unlike charges attract each other. This explains the third image(c) as the positive and the negative charge want to be as close to each other as possible.