Do unlike charges attract or repel?

Unlike charges attract each other. This is a basic principle of electromagnetism. Here are the steps that explain this:

1. Every charge produces an electric field around it. This field represents the force that the charge exerts on other charges.

2. When two charges are brought close to each other, they experience a force due to each other's electric field.

3. If the charges are unlike (one positive and one negative), they attract each other. This is because the force from the electric field of a positive charge is towards the charge, while the force from the electric field of a negative charge is away from the charge.

4. Therefore, when a positive and a negative charge are near each other, the forces they exert on each other are towards each other, meaning they attract.

This principle is encapsulated in Coulomb's Law, which states that the force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The direction of the force is along the line joining the charges, and the force is attractive if the charges are unlike and repulsive if the charges are like.