Please help me answering this question. Press a piece of sticky tape, about 15-2

Question

Please help me answering this question.

Press a piece of sticky tape, about 15-20 cm in length, firmly onto a smooth unpainted surface, for example, a notebook or an unpainted tabletop. (For ease in handling, make "handles" by folding each end of tape to form portions that are not sticky.) Then peel the tape off the table and hang it from a support (e.g., a wooden dowel or the edge of a table). Describe the behavior of the tape as you bring objects toward it (e.g., a hand, a pen). Make another piece of tape as described above. Bring the second tape toward the first. Describe your observations. It is important, as you perform the experiment above, that you keep your hands and other objects away from the tapes. Explain why this precaution is necessary. How does the distance between the tapes affect the interaction between them?

Explanation / Answer

Part A) When we peel the tape off the table it becomes electrically charged so when we bring a uncharged object like a hand or a pen etc an equal and opposite charge get induced on the object so the tape get attracted towards the objects. This is due to the fact that opposite charges attract each other.

Part B) When we do the same activities with the object which is charged by the same process then both tapes repel each other. Because both the tapes are charged by the same process so both have same kind of charge so as identical charges repel each other so the above mentioned observation takes place.

Reason for the precaution :- As the tapes are charged so if we touch them by hand or any other objects there charge may get transferred to our hand or any other object as hand is a good conductor. So by this process tapes becomes neutral and hence you will not get the above mentioned observations.

If we increase the distance between the tapes there interaction becomes weaker and weaker because electrostatic interactions varies inversely with square of distance.

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