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physical interaction that occurs between electrically charged particles. The electromagnetic force
usually exhibits electromagnetic fields such as electric fields, magnetic fields, and light and is one of
the four fundamental interactions (commonly called forces) in nature. The other three fundamental
interactions are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation.
The electromagnetic force plays a major role in determining the internal properties of most objects
encountered in daily life. Ordinary matter takes its form as a result of intermolecular forces between
individual atoms and molecules in matter, and is a manifestation of the electromagnetic force.
Electrons are bound by the electromagnetic force to atomic nuclei, and their orbital shapes and their
influence on nearby atoms with their electrons is describedcby quantum mechanics. The
electromagnetic force governs the processes involved in chemistry, which arise from interactions
between the electrons of neighboring atoms.
Although electromagnetism is considered one of the four fundamental forces, at high energy the
weak force and electromagnetic force are unified as a single electroweak force. In the history of the
universe, during the quark epoch the unified force broke into the two separate forces as the
universe cooled