The gravitational potentials due to the spherical mass are all negative values. However, when the spherical ma

Question

The gravitational potentials due to the spherical mass are all negative values. However, when the spherical mass is electrically charged, explain why the electrical potentials can be positive values with reference to the defintition of potentials.

What if it was a rectangular mass or octahedral mass? How would the gravitational potentials and electrical potential be affected by the shape?

ok, its getting clearer and clearer

Answer 1

It's not the shape of the mass, it's the topology of the potential gradient. The electrostatic force can be attractive or repulsive; gravitation is always attractive. The gravitational potential gradient gets interesting only at the center of a torus. The effect is similar to the hypothetical tunnel through the center of the earth.

Answer 2

Simple--because gravitation is always attractive. You are always falling into a potential well.

Charges come in positive and negative and like charges repel. So a positively charged sphere creates a potential hill, not a well, for positive test charges.

Answer 3

the gravitational potencialof a spherical mass is negative, because it exerts attractive fors on a test body of unit mass
In case of electrical charges, the sphere can have positive or negative charge, so the force which it exerts on a test unit positive charge can be repulsive or attractive so the electrical potencialdue to it can be positiveor negative.

Answer 4

You are comparing apples to oranges.