What happens when like charges interact with each other?

When like charges interact with each other, they repel each other. This behavior is a fundamental aspect of electrostatics, which describes how electric charges interact. Like charges are defined as charges that are the same type; for example, both positive or both negative.

The repulsive force between like charges is a consequence of Coulomb's law, which states that the force between two charged objects depends on the product of their charges and inversely on the square of the distance between them. Since both charges are of the same type, their interaction leads to a force that pushes them away from each other rather than pulling them together.

In contrast, opposite charges attract each other, neutral charges have no effect on each other in terms of attraction or repulsion, and neutralization refers to processes involving equal numbers of positive and negative charges, resulting in no net charge but does not describe the interaction between like charges.