• Question: Why do posotive and negative charges attract?

    Asked by pokemaniac to Emma, Jimmy, Janet, Niall, Simon on 18 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Niall Crawford

      Niall Crawford answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      It’s one of the most fundamental physical laws, which can’t be explained exactly. We can only be tested, and not explained.

    • Photo: James Holloway

      James Holloway answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      If you study physics at university and study Quantum Field Theory you can get insights that emerge from the mathematics but it really is a very complex question. Richard Feynman explains why its hard to explain pretty well:

      But yes, ultimately you have to accept that the universe is made of fundamental forces, and everything else (even particles) come from these. Asking why it is the way it is is a philosophical question that I’d really like to know the answer to as well!

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