What is static electricity and how does it work?

Answer 1

This is just a charge that accumulates on something that is isolated from ground. Under some circumstances a charge may build up on your body and then you touch something that is grounded and you get a shock. This is the static electricity flowing to ground.

Answer 2

How does static electricity work? An imbalance between negative and positive

charges in objects.

Have you ever walked across the room to pet your dog, but got a shock instead? Perhaps you took your hat off on a dry winter's day and had a "hair raising" experience! Or, maybe you have made a balloon stick on the wall after rubbing it against your clothes?

Why do these things happen? Is it magic? No, it's not magic; it's static electricity!

Before understanding static electricity, we first need to understand the basics of atoms and magnetism.

All physical objects are made up of atoms. Inside an atom are protons, electrons and neutrons. The protons are positively charged, the electrons are negatively charged, and the neutrons are neutral.

Therefore, all things are made up of charges. Opposite charges attract each other (negative to positive). Like charges repel each other (positive to positive or negative to negative). Most of the time positive and negative charges are balanced in an object, which makes that object neutral.

Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges in an object. These charges can build up on the surface of an object until they find a way to be released or discharged. One way to discharge them is through a circuit.

The rubbing of certain materials against one another can transfer negative charges, or electrons. For example, if you rub your shoe on the carpet, your body collects extra electrons. The electrons cling to your body until they can be released. As you reach and touch your furry friend, you get a shock. Don't worry, it is only the surplus electrons being released from you to your unsuspecting pet.

And what about that "hair raising" experience? As you remove your hat, electrons are transferred from hat to hair, creating that interesting hairdo! Remember, objects with the same charge repel each other. Because they have the same charge, your hair will stand on end. Your hairs are simply trying to get as far away from each other as possible!

When you rub a balloon against your clothes and it sticks to the wall, you are adding a surplus of electrons (negative charges) to the surface of the balloon. The wall is now more positively charged than the balloon. As the two come in contact, the balloon will stick because of the rule that opposites attract (positive to negative).

For more static electricity information and experiments, see the list of Web Resources and Further Reading sections.

All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms. Inside an atom are even tinier particles: electrons that move in orbit around a center, or nucleus, made of neutrons and protons. An electron has a negative electric charge and a proton has a positive one. Usually an atom has the same number of each, which keeps the atom neutral or uncharged. But sometimes electrons leave their orbit, attracted to other atoms that lack an electron and are positively charged. The movement or flow of electrons from one atom to another produces the form of energy called electricity. When electrons are moved by a force through a conductor-like a wire-the flow of energy they create is known as current electricity. The work that this form of electricity does can be seen when we turn on a light bulb or watch a television show.

Static electricity is a form of electricity that does not flow: it is electricity at rest. Objects carry positive electric charges when some of their atoms have fewer electrons than they should, and they carry negative electric charges when some of the atoms have more electrons than they should. An easy way to produce static electricity is to rub two objects (made of certain materials) together: this transfers electrons from one item to another, giving each a positive or negative charge. Positively and negatively charged objects are attracted to each other like magnets-because each wants to shed or acquire electrons. When static electricity becomes powerful enough, so many electrons jump from one thing to another that they cause a visible electric spark, which you will feel as a little "shock" if one of the things the electrons jump to is you! (Loose electrons can attach to atoms in the surface of your skin.) Lightning, in fact, is really just a giant spark that results when static electricity builds up in a cloud during a thunderstorm.