Two identical lightweight foil sleeves are suspended on silk threads of equal length at one point.

Two identical lightweight foil sleeves are suspended on silk threads of equal length at one point. After the cartridges were told charges of the same sign, they moved away from each other. What happens if one of the casings is discharged?

The sleeves are suspended at one point, therefore, after the discharge of one of the sleeves, they will touch. The redistribution of the charge on the uncharged sleeve in such a way that the opposite charge will be induced on the side facing the charged sleeve will also contribute to the convergence. At the moment of contact, the charge is distributed equally between the sleeves. Having a charge of the same sign, they will again disperse at a certain angle. This angle will be less than the original, because the charge of each of the sleeves will be half of the original.

Answer. The sleeves will move away from each other at a smaller angle.