A scientist is researching what happens when a neutral metal sphere located on an insulated stand is touched by a negatively charged rod. The set up for the scientist’s experiment is shown in the picture below. What will happen to the excess electrons when the negatively charged rod touches the metal sphere? (1 point) Responses The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and spread out. The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and spread out. The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and stay close together. The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and stay close together. The excess electrons will move from the sphere to the rod and stay close together. The excess electrons will move from the sphere to the rod and stay close together. The excess electrons will move from the sphere to the rod and spread out.
When a negatively charged rod touches a neutral metal sphere, the excess electrons on the rod will transfer to the metal sphere, as like charges repel and the sphere is initially electrically neutral. Once on the sphere, these electrons will repel each other due to their like negative charge and move to spread out as far from each other as possible. This spreading out will occur until a state of electrostatic equilibrium is reached, where the electrons are evenly distributed over the surface of the sphere to minimize repulsion between them.
Therefore, the correct response is:
The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and spread out.
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? (1 point) Responses 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 remain only on one spot of the sphere, because the low conductivity of the metal prevents the charges from spreading out. It will only spread to the air around the sphere, because negative charges need to occupy a big area. 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 slowly move to the bottom of the sphere, because the charges are heavy and will sink to the bottom. 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 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 that explains what will happen to the negative charge and why 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 excess negative charges are transferred to a neutral metal sphere, the charges will spread out due to the repulsive forces between them. Metal is a good conductor, so the charges are free to move across its surface. Since like charges repel, the electrons will distribute themselves as uniformly as possible over the surface of the sphere to minimize repulsive forces and reach an equilibrium. This distribution is not affected by gravity in any significant way, and the charges do not remain in one spot or move only to the air around the sphere. They are free to move over the conductive surface of the sphere until they are evenly dispersed.
In this experiment, when the negatively charged rod touches the neutral metal sphere, the excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere. This is because electrons are negatively charged particles, and the rod has an excess of electrons compared to the neutral sphere.
As for what will happen to the excess electrons after they move to the sphere, they will spread out. This is because like charges repel each other, and the excess electrons will repel each other as they move onto the sphere. Therefore, they will distribute themselves as evenly as possible on the surface of the metal sphere, spreading out instead of staying close together.
So, to summarize, the correct answer is: "The excess electrons will move from the rod to the sphere and spread out."