A) 16.1 N
The force of electricity acting between the corks can be calculated using Coulomb's law:

where
k represents Coulomb's constant
denotes the charge magnitude on the first cork
indicates the charge magnitude on the second cork
r = 0.12 m is the distance separating the corks
By inserting the values into the formula, we arrive at

B) Attractive
<pas per="" coulomb="" law="" the="" orientation="" of="" electric="" force="" between="" two="" charged="" entities="" relies="" on="" their="" charge="" signs.=""><pmore specifically="">
- when both are similarly charged (e.g. positive-positive or negative-negative), the force is repulsive
- when charges are of opposite signs (e.g. positive-negative), the resulting force is attractive
<pin this="" case="" we="" have="">
Cork 1 holds a positive charge
Cork 2 possesses a negative charge
<pthus the="" force="" acting="" between="" them="" is="" attractive.="">
C) 
The total charge of the negative cork is

<pwe understand="" that="" a="" single="" electron="" has="" charge="" of="">

<pthe total="" charge="" of="" the="" negative="" cork="" arises="" from="" having="" n="" extra="" electrons="" so="" we="" can="" express="" it="" as="">

<pafter solving="" for="" n="" we="" can="" determine="" the="" count="" of="" excess="" electrons:="">

D) 
The overall charge on the positive cork is

<pthe charge="" of="" a="" single="" electron="" is="" known="" to="" be="">

<pthe total="" charge="" of="" the="" positive="" cork="" results="" from="" n="" excess="" electrons="" which="" can="" be="" depicted="" as="">

<pby calculating="" for="" n="" we="" derive="" the="" number="" of="" electrons="" cork="" has="" lost:="">

</pby></pthe></pthe></pafter></pthe></pwe></pthus></pin></pmore></pas>