According to Benjamin Franklin, what happens to like and unlike charges?

The statement attributed to Benjamin Franklin that "like charges repel; unlike charges attract" describes the fundamental principles of electrostatics. According to this concept, two objects with the same type of electric charge—either both positive or both negative—will push away from each other (repel) due to the force they exert on each other. In contrast, when two objects possess opposite types of charge (one positive and one negative), they exert an attractive force towards each other, resulting in attraction.

Understanding this principle is crucial in various applications of electricity and magnetism, such as in the design of circuits, electric fields, and capacitors. The behavior of electric charges is foundational to studying electronics and electrical engineering.