In electrostatics, the behavior of charges is governed by Coulomb's law, which states that the force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The interaction can be summarized as follows:
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Like Charges Repel: When two charges are of the same type (both positive or both negative), they exert a repulsive force on each other.
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Opposite Charges Attract: When two charges are of opposite types (one positive and one negative), they exert an attractive force on each other.
In summary:
- Like charges (positive-positive or negative-negative) repel each other.
- Opposite charges (positive-negative) attract each other.
This fundamental principle of electrostatics is how interactions between charged particles occur, leading to a variety of phenomena in physics, chemistry, and material science.