physics question #3066

Mike, a 16 year old male from Brussels asks on November 28, 2005,

Q:

I have been doing an experiment in school and I don't understand why the following happens. When we place a charged object near running water from a tap the watter attracts towards the charged object no matter the charge on the object, it never repels it always attracts, why is this so?
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the answer

Barry Shell answered on December 3, 2005, A:

Water molecules have a very special property. Each one has a positive end as well as a negative end. Molecules with this property are called polar. When you bring a charged object close to the water, it attracts the opposite charge in the mobile water molecules more than it repels the charge with the same sign. The net result is attraction, no matter what the charge of the object you use.

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