---
title: "A positively charged glass rod is brought near two small, neutral scraps of paper of equal size: Scrap 1 is made of a conducting material, and Scrap 2 is made of an insulating material. Both neutral scraps experience an attractive electrostatic force toward the rod, but the force on Scrap 1 is measured to be greater than the force on Scrap 2. Which of the following best explains this observation?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/117891/"
date_modified: "2026-08-04T08:02:24+00:00"
---

# A positively charged glass rod is brought near two small, neutral scraps of paper of equal size: Scrap 1 is made of a conducting material, and Scrap 2 is made of an insulating material. Both neutral scraps experience an attractive electrostatic force toward the rod, but the force on Scrap 1 is measured to be greater than the force on Scrap 2. Which of the following best explains this observation?

A positively charged glass rod is brought near two small, neutral scraps of paper of equal size: Scrap 1 is made of a conducting material, and Scrap 2 is made of an insulating material. Both neutral scraps experience an attractive electrostatic force toward the rod, but the force on Scrap 1 is measured to be greater than the force on Scrap 2. Which of the following best explains this observation?

![A horizontal diagram showing a positively charged rod on the left with plus signs along its length. To the right of the rod are two small rectangular scraps: Scrap 1 labeled 'Scrap 1 (Conductor)' on top and Scrap 2 labeled 'Scrap 2 (Insulator)' below it. A leftward horizontal arrow pointing toward the rod is attached to each scrap, with the arrow on Scrap 1 visibly longer than the arrow on Scrap 2. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1785830544-DzcMTK.jpg)

- **A.** In Scrap 1, positive charges move to the front surface near the rod, while in Scrap 2, negative charges are repelled to the back surface.
- **B.** Both scraps acquire a net negative charge from the surrounding air through induction, but Scrap 1 acquires a greater net charge than Scrap 2.
- **C.** Free electrons in Scrap 1 undergo macroscopic charge separation toward the front surface, whereas charges in Scrap 2 undergo only microscopic polarization within individual atoms.
- **D.** Scrap 1 becomes negatively charged by conduction without physical contact, whereas Scrap 2 remains completely unaffected by the electric field.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/117891/*