What is the direction of the force between two opposite charges?

What is the direction of the force between two opposite charges?

• A. They repel each other.
• B. They attract each other.
• C. They have no interaction.
• D. They require a magnetic field to interact.

Answer: (B)

Opposite electric charges attract each other. According to Coulomb's law, the force on one charge due to the other points along the line that connects them toward the other charge, and its magnitude falls off with the square of the distance. Because the signs are opposite, the interaction pulls the charges together, so each experiences a force toward the other with equal strength. Magnetic fields aren’t needed to explain this interaction for stationary charges; the electric force exists even without magnetism. The other ideas don’t fit because like charges repel, there is indeed an electric interaction, and a magnetic field isn’t required for this static attraction.

Opposite electric charges attract each other. According to Coulomb's law, the force on one charge due to the other points along the line that connects them toward the other charge, and its magnitude falls off with the square of the distance. Because the signs are opposite, the interaction pulls the charges together, so each experiences a force toward the other with equal strength. Magnetic fields aren’t needed to explain this interaction for stationary charges; the electric force exists even without magnetism. The other ideas don’t fit because like charges repel, there is indeed an electric interaction, and a magnetic field isn’t required for this static attraction.