Question

William writes the following description of how objects are attracted to each other.

Charges transfer from one object to another. A charged object next to an uncharged object will repel each other. A positively charged object and a negatively charged object will attract each other.
What is the error in William's description?

a. A charged and uncharged object attract each other.
b. Charges are transferred from water to objects.
c. Transfer of charges occurs due to heat.
d. Two charged objects attract each other.

Answer 1

The error in William's description is that a charged object will actually attract an uncharged object, due to induced polarization, not repel it as he stated.

Step-by-step explanation:

The error in William's description of how objects with electric charge interact is the statement that a charged object next to an uncharged object will repel each other. Instead, according to the principles of electrostatics and Coulomb's law, a charged object will actually attract an uncharged object. This attraction happens because the presence of the charged object can induce a separation of charges within the uncharged object, polarizing it, and thus leading to an attraction due to the non-uniform distribution of charges. This is particularly noticeable with polar molecules such as water, which can be strongly affected by charged objects.

In response to William's description, the correct statement is: A charged and uncharged object attract each other. Additionally, it's important to note that transfer and separation of charge occur when electrons, which are negatively charged, are moved from one object to another. Since electrons are much easier to transfer than protons, they are the mobile charges that lead to objects becoming charged.