Question

The diagram shows two charged objects, X and Y.

2 balls marked X on left and Y on right. The left ball has arrows emerging in all directions but to the right and all arrows either point to the left or immediately bend toward the left after emerging. The right ball has arrows emanating in all directions but to the left and all arrows either point to the right or immediately bend toward the right.
Based on the field lines, what are the charges of the objects?

X: positive
Y: negative
X: negative
Y: neutral
X: negative
Y: neutral
X: positive
Y: positive

Answer 1

X and Y are both positive.

Reason: field lines point away from positive charges (toward negatives). In the diagram the lines near each ball point away from the midpoint (they bend away from the other ball), so both charges are positive.