As clothes are tumbled in a dryer, electrons are rubbed off some items, giving them a positive charge, and deposited on other items, giving them a negative charge. These charged items exert electrostatic forces on one another. You can explore these forces with theCoulomb Force (Static)Gizmo.

In its initial settings, the Gizmo shows two objects that each have a charge (q) of 10.0 10^-4 C (coulombs). Turn on theShow force vector checkboxes for objectsA andB. The arrows coming from each object arevectors that represent the electrostatic force. The direction and length of each vector show the direction and magnitude (strength) of each force.

1. Are the vectors for objectsA andB pointing together or away from each other?

1. Are objectsA andB attracted together or repelled apart?

1. Compare the lengths of the vectors. What do you notice?