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physicsphobic
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Homework Statement
To explain the attraction which a rubbed rod of amber exerted on small objects which were some distance away from it, Newton suggested that there was an invisible substance in the amber which he called "electrical spirit". When the rod was rubbed, this electrical spirit was disturbed and stretched out into the area around the rod. When the electrical spirit contracted again, it pulled with it any small objects that happened in its path.
A. What explanation is used today to explain how electrical forces are able to act upon objects at a distance?
B. Newton's theory explained electrical attraction at a distance. What kind of electrical phenomena at a distance did it fail to explain? How does the modern explanation you stated in part A account for this second kind of action at a distance?
I don't understand these questions at all and really need help on them. Thanks to anyone who can help me.
Joanne