Like charges ________ each other.

Like charges ________ each other.

• A. Attract
• B. Neutralize
• C. Cancel
• D. Repel

Answer: (D)

Like charges repel each other. This behavior comes from Coulomb’s law: the force between two charges depends on the product of their magnitudes and the inverse square of the distance between them, and its direction is along the line joining them. If the charges have the same sign, the product q1q2 is positive, so the force on each charge points away from the other, pushing them apart. If the signs are opposite, the product is negative, and the force points toward the other charge, pulling them together. So two positives push apart, two negatives push apart, while a positive and a negative attract. The other options describe different situations or ideas (attraction, neutralization, cancellation) that don’t match how like charges behave.

Like charges repel each other. This behavior comes from Coulomb’s law: the force between two charges depends on the product of their magnitudes and the inverse square of the distance between them, and its direction is along the line joining them. If the charges have the same sign, the product q1q2 is positive, so the force on each charge points away from the other, pushing them apart. If the signs are opposite, the product is negative, and the force points toward the other charge, pulling them together. So two positives push apart, two negatives push apart, while a positive and a negative attract. The other options describe different situations or ideas (attraction, neutralization, cancellation) that don’t match how like charges behave.