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| EnchantedLearning.com | Zoom Astronomy |
Static electricity is a stationary electric charge that is built up on a material. A common example of static electricity is the slight electrical shock that we can get when we touch a doorknob during dry weather. The static electricity is formed when we accumulate extra electrons (negatively-charged particles which we rub off carpeting) and they are discharged onto the doorknob.
Everything is made up of atoms, and atoms are made of tiny particles, some of which are electrically charged. Most atoms are electrically neutral; the positive charges (protons in the nucleus or center of the atom) cancel out the negative charges (electrons that surround the nucleus in clouds). Opposite charges attract one another. Similar charges repel one another.
Try this: Rub a balloon on your hair. This removes some of the electrons from your hair and gives the balloon a slight negative charge. Now put the balloon against a wall. It will stick (if the weather is dry) since the negative charges in the balloon will re-orient the atoms of the wall, and a weak electrical force will hold the balloon in place on the wall.
Try this (for a really bad hair day): Rub a wool (not acrylic) cap on your hair (on a dry day). This removes some of the electrons from your hair, giving each hair a slight positive electrical charge. Like charges repulse one another, so each hair repulses the other hairs. The result is a mad-scientist hair-do.
When two materials are rubbed together (like a balloon and your hair), one will lose electrons and one will accumulate them. Physicists have
ranked materials by the order in which they lose or gain electrons. This ranking is called the triboelectric series. A small list of some
common materials is shown below. When two of these substances are rubbed together, the one that is higher on the list will usually lose electrons (and accumulate a positive charge). The ones on the bottom of the list gain electrons (accumulate a negative charge).
| Triboelectric Series |
|---|
| human skin |
| rabbit fur |
| glass |
| human hair |
| nylon |
| sheep's wool |
| silk |
| aluminum |
| paper |
| cotton |
| wood |
| amber |
| Nickel, Copper, Brass, Silver, Gold, Platinum |
| acetate, rayon |
| rubber |
| polyester |
| PVC (polyvinylchloride plastic) |
| teflon |
|
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