There is an electric field around every electric charge.An electric field exerts a force on electric charges The figure shows two electric fields. The arrows show the direction a positive charge would move in each electric field. Your hair has the positive charge and moves toward the balloon. Comparing electric forces and gravitational forces The force of gravity between you and Earth seems very strong However, at the scale of atoms and molecules electric forces are much stronger than gravitational forces. Electric forces hold electrons and protons together in atoms. The electric force between a proton and an electron in a hydrogen atom is a thousand trillion trillion trillion times larger, or 10^39 times larger, than the gravitational force between the same proton and electron. Electric forces also hold atoms to one another.Electric forces between atoms cause chemical bonds. These electric forces are also much greater than the gravitational forces between the atoms. Deading Essentials - Electricity Get It? 4. Compare the strength of electric forces between protons and electrons 10 the strength of gravitational forces between them. __ __ __