Question

Complete the following sentences:
An ebonite rod is rubbed with fur. The charge on an ebonite rod is ….. and the charge on fur is …..
a.)Positive, positive
b.)Negative, negative
c.)Positive, negative
d.)Negative, positive

Answer 1

Hint: Study about differently charged particles present inside an atom and how they get transferred from one particle to another.

Complete step by step answer:
An atom consists of tiny particles that are not visible with naked eyes. These are electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons are negatively charged particles, protons are positively charged particles and neutrons are neutral.
Materials in which electrons are allowed to flow freely are called conductors while materials in which electrons do not flow freely are called insulators.

Ebonite rod is an example of an insulator while fur is an example of a conductor. So, electrons cannot move easily in an ebonite rod while they can freely move in fur.
Therefore, when the ebonite rod is rubbed against fur, the electrons get transferred from fur to the ebonite rod. Due to the transfer of electrons, the fur becomes positively charged while the ebonite rod becomes negatively charged.

Thus, we can say:
An ebonite rod is rubbed with fur. The charge on the ebonite rod is negative and the charge on fur is positive.

Additional Information:
Charge can be transferred from one body to another by different methods like:
Conduction
Induction
Friction
Charges are always conserved, that is they can neither be created nor be destroyed but they can be transferred from one body to another.

Note: We can do simple experiments to observe the transfer of charge. For example, rub a scale with your hair and then try to attract bits of paper with that scale. Ebonite rod is an insulator so it does not lose electrons and cannot acquire a positive charge.