Two Spheres That Are Attracted to Each Other

 They said, when you are attracted to someone, there will be this electric shock, electric spark, that will appear when you and them were in close proximity.

I think it was nonsense.

After all, electricity, static or otherwise, has rules. It doesn't just happen for no reason.

But then, there it comes that Physics class. The immensely boring class that was basically just the teacher yapping, yapping, and yapping about every little things in the world.

Like, why are we overthinking this anyway?

I looked at the whiteboard boringly. The professor had written an equation on it :

I rolled my eyes. The Coulomb's Law. Aren't we all familiar with it already? The equation that we use to calculate the force of attraction or repulsion between two electrically charged particles. Counting in the factors that affect the magnitude of the force. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. We have learnt this since middle school. I have graduated that place since three years ago. It's not like I ever actually use it since.

I yawned, resting my cheek on my face as I started scribbling on my notebook.

"You know, Zoey? This lecture is going to feel sooo much better and engaging if only the professor would bother explaining how Coulomb find out about the equation" I turned my head, meeting Adrian's eyes. The young man ran his hand through his hair as he smiled at me.

He is one of my classmate, this Adrian. One whose boarding house is neighbored with mine. Sometimes we go to the uni together when we shared the same schedule.

"Oh yeah?" I raised my eyebrows, "You think it's going to be so much fun if we know?" I said skeptically.

"Mhm" Adrian nodded, "Well, even if it's not, at least you will remember a glimpse of the demonstration during the test, and could come up with an educated guess of the law"

"It's not like this law is hard" I said, before adding jokingly, "It's literally just kaqiqurawr"

Adrian frowned, then chuckled a little, "Kaqiqurawr? That sounds like a new type of dinosaur"

"A Physics dinosaur, that is" I grinned, shifting on my seat, "But really, how did Coulomb discover his law?"

"Well," Adrian shifted his notebook. And I know he is about to scribble on the paper.

I always like it every time Adrian do stuffs like this—explaining things—even if he admitted that he doesn't really understand it most of the time. But it's like he is trying to tell me a piece of his mind, even if it's Physics.

"So, basically, he was... I don't know, I think he had too much free time and decided to do this experiment," Adrian laughed, already started scribbling.

"Having too much free time?" I repeated, shaking my head in disbelief. Adrian has the habit to oversimplify historical stuffs for comedic purpose, "You are calling the day where he's gonna change the science world 'having too much free time'?"

"What else we can call it?" Adrian defended himself, "A grown man, making a weird device with wires and spheres out of metal just to see what will happen? That's having too much time to lend"

On the paper, a graph is already drawn. There is a sketch of a horizontal bar balanced on a wire with a small sphere at the end of each of the bar.

I rolled my eyes, "I don't know. Maybe you can say that he is so determined to test a theory?" I suggested, "Is this how the device look?"

"That's too mouthful" Adrian said, shaking his head in disapproval. Then he nodded, "Yeah, this is how the device look. It's called 'torsion balance'."

"Torsion balance" I nodded, "Okay, continue. How did he do the experiment?"

"First, he put two uncharged spheres near each other... let's say the distance between the spheres are 15mm" he drew two cute spheres with smiley face. "And there is no reaction. And the wire didn't move. Because both spheres are neutral"

"So then, he took this sphere that was suspending and charged it by rubbing it with silk. Now this sphere..." he labeled the suspended sphere as B sphere, "...is going to be charged positively, let's say the charge is 5"

"And when he put it inside the device, the other sphere..." he labeled it as A sphere, "...is going to get attracted to B sphere, causing the wire to twist" he drew a couple lines to indicate movement, "Let's say it's twisting 6 times"

"You have such a cute drawing," I commented, giggling at how adorable he drew the two spheres.

Adrian grinned, "Thank you. Shall we continue?" 

I nodded, scanning the sketch he had drawn on the paper.

"Afterwards, he retreated B sphere..."

"How did you even find out these stuffs?" I laughed softly, a bit of amazement betrayed in my voice, "I mean, why did you even look these up?"

Adrian tilted his head, grinning, "This is how you gonna end up if you were raised with someone who constantly question things---even the most trivial ones. My cousin sometimes would look at the night sky and was like, Why the hell the new moon is called the new moon when you can't even see the moon? You ended up looking things up too at one point"

I shook my head, amused. Adrian has told me that he was taken care of by his cousin when he was younger, working as his babysitter. Sounds like an interesting guy, Adrian's cousin.

"Anyway, the experiment suggested that they already knows that there are two kind of charges," I pointed out, "How did they know that?"

"Oh, boy. Let me tell you about electric kiss and Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment"

(I am losing the electric kiss sketch. I will add it later lol)

We ended up not listening to the professor that day. Too engrossed in Adrian's scribbles on the paper.

I sighed in satisfaction, "You know, I don't know how finding out about how charges and Coulomb's Law were discovered gonna help with our test"

Adrian chuckled, "Well, maybe it won't" he said lightly, "But, it was fun, no? Finding out how things were discovered?"

I thought for a while, then smiled, "I won't lie, it is"

"That's the most important thing---Of course, you shouldn't study like this the night before exam, but it's a good way to make you interested in the subject first. It makes you come up with more questions and it peaks your curiosity" Adrian said, putting the notebook inside his backpack, "You yearn for knowledge. And isn't acquiring knowledge the real goal of learning? It shouldn't be 'to pass the test', that's way too surface level"

I stared at Adrian, then slowly nodded in agreement. Most of the time, I only study to pass the test. And then I forgot it about it after the test is finished. That's why it feels pointless sometimes.

"You are so wise all of sudden. What's gotten into you?" I laughed, wanting to break the sudden contemplation that's creeping along with his words.

Adrian smiled, "It's not my words, it's Beeroo's"

Ah, so it's his cousin Beeroo again.

"I see" I hummed, "He sounds like someone who you really look up to. I really want to meet him one day" I said sincerely.

There was a pregnant silence following my words. And a warm smile bloomed on Adrian's lips.

"Then I wish one day you can meet him"

Silence grew between us, the comfortable kind. I stepped with him side by side. Going home to our respective boarding houses.

They said, when you are attracted to someone, there will be an electric shock. But I only felt warmth growing inside my chest as I walked beside Adrian. So, of course, it's not that, right? There is no way I am falling in love with my neighbor. There is no way.

References :

(but, just like Zoey said, "[he] admitted that he doesn't really understand it most of the time". And neither do I. So don't trust me and do your own research, lol. I am as confused as you guys)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYSTGX-F1GM&ab_channel=EducationalVideos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJo_3lCuVLo&ab_channel=WilliamPeterson