question 1 (1 point)\nhow does pulling apart oppositely charged objects affect electric potential…

Answer:

Increases it

Explanation:

Step1: Recall electric - potential - energy formula

The electric potential energy between two charges $U = k\frac{q_1q_2}{r}$, where $k$ is Coulomb's constant, $q_1$ and $q_2$ are the charges, and $r$ is the distance between them.

Step2: Analyze the effect of increasing distance

When the oppositely - charged objects ($q_1$ and $q_2$ have opposite signs) are pulled apart, the distance $r$ between them increases. Since $U = k\frac{q_1q_2}{r}$ and $q_1q_2<0$ for opposite charges, as $r$ increases, the magnitude of $U$ increases (the negative value of $U$ becomes more negative in magnitude, which means the absolute value of the electric potential energy increases).