Question

After walking across a carpeted floor in socks, Jim brings his finger near a metal doorknob and receives a shock. what does that demonstrate

Answer 1

electric forces can act at a distance.

When Jim walked across the carpeted floor, his body gained electrons from the carpet. The presence of these electrons generated a force between his finger and the doorknob. Since he did not need to actually touch the doorknob for the electrons to be pulled from his finger, this demonstrates that electric forces can act at a distance.

Answer 2

When you touch a doorknob (or something else made of metal), which has a positive charge with few electrons.