A scientist wipes a rubber rod with a wool cloth which leads to a negative charge on the rod. After this, the scientist touches the rod to a neutral metal sphere. This will transfer the negative charges from the rod to the sphere
Which statement explains what will happen to the negative charge, and why?
It will only spread to the air around the sphere, because negative charges need to occupy a big area.
.
It will remain only on one spot of the sphere, because the low conductivity of the metal prevents the charges from spreading out.
It will spread uniformly over the surface of the sphere, because of the conducting nature of the sphere and similar charges push away from each other.
It will slowly move to the bottom of the sphere, because the charges are heavy and will sink to the bottom.
The correct statement is:
- It will spread uniformly over the surface of the sphere because of the conducting nature of the sphere and similar charges push away from each other.
When the scientist touches the negatively charged rod to a neutral metal sphere, the negative charges will be able to move freely within the conductive material of the sphere. Since like charges repel each other, the negative charges will spread out evenly over the surface of the sphere, trying to maximize the distance between each other. This is because the conductive nature of the metal allows the charges to move easily within the material. Therefore, the negative charge will spread uniformly over the surface of the sphere.