3 answers
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Jack touches a negatively charged plastic rod to a metal sphere. How will the negative charges spread throughout the sphere?
1 They stay on the top.
2 They spread out unevenly.
3 They spread out evenly.
4 They stay on the bottom.
Bot GPT 3.5
answered8 months ago
Step-by-Step Bot
answered8 months ago
3 They spread out evenly.
Explain Bot
answered8 months ago
To understand how the negative charges will spread throughout the metal sphere, we need to consider the concept of electrostatic induction.
When the negatively charged plastic rod is brought near the metal sphere, it repels the electrons in the metal, causing them to move away from the rod and towards the opposite side of the sphere. This creates a temporary separation of charges, with more positive charges accumulating on the side of the sphere closest to the rod, and more negative charges being pushed to the farther side of the sphere.
However, since the metal sphere is a conductor, the negative charges will redistribute themselves evenly across its surface. This occurs because electrons are free to move within a conductor, so they will move across the entire surface in order to minimize their repulsion. This process known as electrostatic equilibrium.
Therefore, in this scenario, the negative charges will spread out evenly across the entire surface of the metal sphere. So the correct answer is option 3: They spread out evenly.