Static Electricity

Electric Charges
What is an Atom made of?
Answer  Protons, Neutrons, & Electrons
There are two types of Electric Charges:
1 – Positive (Protons)
2 – Negative (Electrons)
Atoms contain an equal number of
Protons and Neutrons; Positive &
Negative cancel each other out.
 What is Static Electricity?
Static electricity is the accumulation of
excess (extra) electric charges on an
object.

Ex. Atoms in shoes hold electrons more

tightly than atoms in carpet.
Shoes and Carpet
 Conservation of Charge
Charge is never created nor destroyed;
Electrons simply move from one object to
another.
Ex. When shoes rub on carpet, electrons
transfer from the carpet to the shoes.
 Shoes  more electrons (negative charge)

Carpet  less electrons (positive charge)
 Opposites Attract
“Opposite” charges attract
“Like” charges repel
 Conductors & Insulators
An excess of electrons can move easily
through materials conductors.
Ex. Skin is a good conductor. Electrons
from your shoes repel each other and
transfer to your skin.
Metal conductors:
 Atoms in metals have electrons that easily
move through materials.
Ex. Copper; great for electric wires,
because Copper is a good conductor of
electricity.
 Insulators
Insulators are materials that don’t allow
electrons to move easily through them.
**Electrons are held strongly to atoms in
insulating materials.**
Examples of insulators include:
 Plastic, Wood, Rubber, & Glass.
Ways that Objects can be Charged

Induction
Friction
Conduction
 Charging by Induction
Induction:
Objects can be charged by bringing a charged
object near a neutral object.

The two objects don’t touch
 If a charged object is brought near a neutral

object the charged object will attract unlike

charges in the neutral object and repel like
charges in the neutral object.
 After an object is charged by induction it will

have the opposite charge of the charging

object and will attract it.
Ex. Balloon with (-) charge approaches
sleeve with (-) charge. The negative
electrons on the sleeve move away from
the balloon, leaving (+) charges in its
place.
(+) and (-) attract, causing the balloon to
stick to the sleeve.
 Charging by Friction

Friction:
 If you rub one against another,
sometimes electrons leave
one object and stick to another
leaving both objects charged.
 Charging by Conduction
Conduction:
 Electrons can be transferred from one object
to another by touching.
When a charged object touches another
object some charge will transfer to the
other object.
It is always the electrons that move in solid
objects.
Objects charged by conduction will have
the same charge as the object charging it
and therefore repel it.