A positively charged rod is held near a neutral lightweight sphere suspended from a thread. The sphere is not touched by the rod. The table shows the sphere’s deflection towards the rod at two separations.
| Separation between rod and sphere (cm) | Deflection towards rod (mm) |
|---|---|
| 4.0 | 18 |
| 8.0 | 6 |
Explain the attraction of the sphere to the rod and the difference in deflection at the two separations.
91 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Physics 11.1 Charging by friction, covering 11.1.1 Charging insulators by friction, 11.1.2 Forces between charges, 11.1.3 Electrostatic phenomena, and 11.1.4 Earthing and removing charge. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.