Question

Give some examples of electrostatic force.

Answer 1

Hint: Electrostatics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of electromagnetic phenomena where electric charges are at rest. That is there will be no moving charges right after a static equilibrium has existed. The electric force between the charged bodies which are stationary is called the electrostatic force. We can see some of the examples of electrostatic force below.

Complete step by step solution:
Electrostatic force can also be called Coulomb force due to its relevance with Coulomb’s interaction. Electrostatic forces are non-contact forces. They attract or repel objects without touching them.
For example, let’s suppose we have two balloons. Let us keep it in our hands. It does not show any attraction or repulsion. Now let us rub one balloon with a woolen cloth. Now if we keep them together without touching, we can see the balloon rubbed with the woolen cloth attract each other. Now if we rub the other balloon also with the woolen cloth and keep them together, we can see them repel against each other. The balloon acquires some electrostatic charge when they are rubbed with a woolen cloth. And that is why they felt the force of attraction and repulsion even without any contact. This force is called the electrostatic force and they are non-contact forces.

Some of the other examples of electrostatic forces are
Attraction happens when we rub a scale and make it come in contact with paper pieces.
When we are working with a plastic wrap in our hand and we later remove it from our hand we can feel a force of attraction. This happens because of the electrostatic force.
Another example of electrostatic force is lightning.

Note:
We can see that electrostatic force is also similar to the gravitational force in many ways. Like they both are conservative forces and also they both are central forces. But we get to know that the gravitational force is independent of the medium whereas electrostatic force depends on the medium. Hence these two forces are different in this respect.