If a teacher rubs a glass rod with a piece of silk, giving the rod a positive charge, which of the items will the rod attract?

1 answer

When a glass rod is rubbed with silk, it becomes positively charged due to the loss of electrons (which are transferred to the silk). Charged objects can attract neutral objects or other oppositely charged objects.

The positively charged glass rod will attract:

  1. Neutral objects: Even though these objects are neutral overall, the presence of the positively charged rod can induce a separation of charges within them (known as polarization), leading to an attraction.

  2. Negatively charged objects: If there are any negatively charged objects nearby, the positively charged rod will attract those as well.

So, the rod will attract neutral items such as small bits of paper or other non-charged materials, as well as any items with a negative charge. It will not attract other positively charged objects.