A teacher tells her students that the space around a charged particle will exert a force on any other charged particle that is placed within this space. She places an object between two charged metal plates, one plate that is positively charged and one plate that is negatively charged. Which argument BEST supports what will happen?

Question

An object with a negative charge will remain stationary between the plates
A neutrally-charged object will move toward the negative plate.
An object with a positive charge will move toward the negative plate.
A neutrally-charged object will move toward the positive plate.

Answer 1

The argument that BEST supports what will happen is:

An object with a positive charge will move toward the negative plate.

This statement is correct because charged particles experience an electric force due to the electric field created between the positively charged plate and the negatively charged plate. A positively charged object will be attracted toward the negative plate since opposite charges attract. A negatively charged object would move toward the positive plate for the same reason, and a neutrally charged object would not move in response to the electric field, but rather would rely on polarizations and would likely experience very little, if any, net force.