The law of charges states that like charges____ and opposite charges____.

• A. Repel, attract
• B. Attract, repel
• C. Neutralize, polarize
• D. Induce, dissipate

Answer: (A)

Like charges repel and opposite charges attract. This is how electrostatic forces behave: two positive or two negative charges push away from each other, while a positive and a negative charge pull toward each other. The force grows stronger as the charges get larger and as they get closer, and it acts along the line connecting the two charges. The other statements describe processes that aren’t the general rule for how charges interact (neutralizing or polarizing, for example).