I know it seems like a funny and silly question but, I am serious! lol.
When we hold a book, our hands are holding it against the gravitational force of the whole earth (WHOA!) which has only been made possible by the electrostatic force between the charged constituents of our hand and the book at the surface in contact.
I know electromagnetic force is intrinsically so much stronger than gravity and that's what keeps us from collapsing.
But, shouldn't the electrostatic forces cancel out each other as the book and our hand are *almost* electrically neutral?
And even if they don't, why is electrostatic force *in this particular case* always negative (Attractive)?
There HAS to be an answer because gravity hasn't collapsed my chair or me yet. What force counters gravitational attraction? What makes it work in the opposite direction of gravitational attraction?
How did you like the question?
2006-09-20
23:10:17
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12 answers
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asked by
Abhyudaya
6
in
Physics