Repulsing

Repulsing, or repulsion, is the process or effect by which objects or entities are driven apart or deterred from approaching one another. It is a general concept used across physics, chemistry, and social contexts to describe forces or tendencies that push things away rather than pull them together.

In physics, repulsion most commonly arises from electrostatic forces. Like charges repel each other, and the force between point charges follows Coulomb’s law, increasing with charge magnitude and decreasing with distance. Magnetic repulsion occurs between magnets with like poles facing each other, as described by magnetic field interactions in Maxwellian electrodynamics. Gravity, by contrast, is universally attractive, so it does not produce gravitational repulsion in classical mechanics.

In atomic and molecular systems, repulsion has quantum-mechanical and electronic origins. Electron-electron repulsion stems from Coulombic interactions between electrons, and the Pauli exclusion principle enforces exchange repulsion that discourages electrons from occupying the same quantum state. Together, these effects contribute to the short-range “steric” or exchange repulsion that shapes molecular geometries and reaction barriers, and they compete with attractive forces such as chemical bonding and van der Waals attraction.

In materials and colloidal science, repulsion can arise between surfaces or particles as a stabilizing mechanism (steric or electrostatic stabilization) or as a barrier to close approach, influencing wetting, adsorption, and aggregation phenomena.

Socially, repulsion describes aversion or opposition between people or ideas, often leading to avoidance, conflict avoidance, or the formation of boundaries and taboos.