Two positively charged objects are separated by a large distance. One of the positively charged objects is replaced by a negatively charged object, and the two objects are moved closer to each other.

Question

Which of the following occurs in this situation?
The repulsive force becomes an attractive force, which decreases as the objects move closer to each other.
The attractive force becomes a repulsive force, which increases as the objects move closer to each other
The attractive force becomes a repulsive force, which decreases as the objects move closer to each other.
The repulsive force becomes an attractive force, which increases as the objects move closer to each other.

Answer 1

In this situation, we have two original positively charged objects, which exert a repulsive force on each other. When one of these positively charged objects is replaced with a negatively charged object, the nature of the interaction changes from repulsive to attractive.

As the negatively charged object is brought closer to the positively charged object, the attractive force between them will increase due to the decrease in distance (as per Coulomb's law, the force increases as the distance between the charges decreases).

Therefore, the correct statement is:

The repulsive force becomes an attractive force, which increases as the objects move closer to each other.