Question
What happens when a positively charged object moves toward a positive source charge in an electric field?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
When a positively charged object moves toward a positive source charge in an electric field, it experiences a force that repels it away from the source charge due to the electric field produced by the source charge itself.
Here's a breakdown of the key concepts involved:
1. **Electric Field**: A positive source charge creates an electric field around it. In this field, other charges experience a force depending on their own charge.
2. **Force on the Positively Charged Object**: Since both the source charge and the object are positively charged, they will repel each other according to Coulomb's law. The force \( F \) between two point charges is given by
\[
F = k \frac{|q_1 q_2|}{r^2}
\]
where \( k \) is Coulomb's constant, \( q_1 \) and \( q_2 \) are the magnitudes of the charges, and \( r \) is the distance between the charges. In this case, since both charges are positive, the force will be repulsive.
3. **Movement**: As the positively charged object moves closer to the positive source charge, the repulsive force increases (because it is inversely proportional to the square of the distance). This means that rather than being able to approach the source charge, the positively charged object will accelerate away from it due to this repulsive force.
In summary, when a positively charged object moves toward a positive source charge, it will actually be repelled and pushed away by the electric force acting on it.
Here's a breakdown of the key concepts involved:
1. **Electric Field**: A positive source charge creates an electric field around it. In this field, other charges experience a force depending on their own charge.
2. **Force on the Positively Charged Object**: Since both the source charge and the object are positively charged, they will repel each other according to Coulomb's law. The force \( F \) between two point charges is given by
\[
F = k \frac{|q_1 q_2|}{r^2}
\]
where \( k \) is Coulomb's constant, \( q_1 \) and \( q_2 \) are the magnitudes of the charges, and \( r \) is the distance between the charges. In this case, since both charges are positive, the force will be repulsive.
3. **Movement**: As the positively charged object moves closer to the positive source charge, the repulsive force increases (because it is inversely proportional to the square of the distance). This means that rather than being able to approach the source charge, the positively charged object will accelerate away from it due to this repulsive force.
In summary, when a positively charged object moves toward a positive source charge, it will actually be repelled and pushed away by the electric force acting on it.