Electromagnetic force

 Electromagnetic force

The electromagnetic force, also called the Lorentz force, acts between charged particles, like negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons. Opposite charges attract one another, while like charges repel. The greater the charge, the greater the force. And much like gravity, this force can be felt from an infinite distance (albeit the force would be very, very small at that distance).

As its name indicates, the electromagnetic force consists of two parts: the electric force and the magnetic force. At first, physicists described these forces as separate from one another, but researchers later realized that the two are components of the same force. 

The electric component acts between charged particles whether they're moving or stationary, creating a field by which the charges can influence each other. But once set into motion, those charged particles begin to display the second component, the magnetic force. The particles create a magnetic field around them as they move. So when electrons zoom through a wire to charge your computer or phone or turn on your TV, for example, the wire becomes magnetic.

Electromagnetic forces are transferred between charged particles through the exchange of massless, force-carrying bosons called photons, which are also the particle components of light. The force-carrying photons that swap between charged particles, however, are a different manifestation of photons.

The electromagnetic force is responsible for some of the most commonly experienced phenomena: friction, elasticity, the normal force and the force holding solids together in a given shape. It's even responsible for the drag that birds, planes and even Superman experience while flying. These actions can occur because of charged (or neutralized) particles interacting with one another. The normal force that keeps a book on top of a table (instead of gravity pulling the book through to the ground), for example, is a consequence of electrons in the table's atoms repelling electrons in the book's atoms.