Question

Question: A young lady places her hand on a metal sphere of the Van Der Graff generator, which is positively charged, and her hair stands on end. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about the situation?

a. There is no electric charge involved since the total amount of charge is zero.

b. The negatively charged hairs repel each other, so her hairs get as far away from each other as possible.

c. The positively charged hairs repel each other, so her hairs get as far away from each other as possible.

d. The electrons are being removed from the metal sphere and transfer either to the earth through the electron sink or to the other smaller sphere.

e. Ideally, every single hair is charged with the same amount of charge.

Answer 1

The young lady places her hand on a metal sphere of the Van Der Graff generator, which is positively charged so the lady gained positive charge from it and become positively charged. And ideally, every single hair is charged with the same amount of charge. Thus, all hairs of her also became positively charged. And we know, like charges repel and this repulsion of like positive charges of each hair push each other and become straight.

So, the right answers are:

c. The positively charged hairs repel each other, so her hairs get as far away from each other as possible.

e. Ideally, every single hair is charged with the same amount of charge.