NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 5 .4.2 Non-contact forces — In-text Questions

Book page 715 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Does this indicate that the charge on the balloon is of a different kind from the charge on the woollen cloth?

Answer

Yes, it does. The two similarly charged balloons repelled each other, while the balloon and the woollen cloth attracted each other. Since the same kind of charge repels, the attraction can only mean that the cloth carries a different kind of charge from the balloon.

Both the rubbing object (the cloth) and the rubbed object (the balloon) get charged, but they acquire opposite kinds of charge.

Q2.

Does it mean that there are two kinds of electrical charges?

Answer

Yes. The two kinds of static charges are said to be ‘positive’ and ‘negative’.

The whole of the rubbing experiment is explained by two simple rules:

Like (similar) charges → repel each other
Unlike (opposite) charges → attract each other

Rubbing never creates one charge alone. It always produces the two kinds together, one on each object — which is why the balloon and the cloth end up attracting each other, and why two balloons rubbed the same way end up pushing each other apart.

Did you know? Compare this with magnets, where the two poles are North and South, and the same two rules apply. The big difference comes next: gravitational force has no such pair — it is always attractive.

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