a scientist wipes a rubber rod with a wool which leads to a negative charge on the rod. after this, the scientist touches the rod in a neutral metal shape. this will transfer the negative charge from the rod to the sphere:
Charged rubber rod
Metal Sphere
Insulating Plastic Stand
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 slowly move to the bottom of the sphere, because the charges are heavy and will sink to the bottom.
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
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 charged rubber rod to the metal sphere, the negative charges on the rubber rod will be repelled by the negative charges already present in the metal. As a result, the negative charges will spread out evenly over the surface of the sphere. This is because like charges repel each other and try to move as far away from each other as possible. The conducting nature of the metal allows the charges to move freely throughout the surface of the sphere.