Static Electricity

LO:How static electricity is

produced?
• All : Able to explain Static electricity.
• Most : Able to demonstrate the charging of
materials.
• Some : Able to investigate how static
electricity is produced and can relate it to
the daily life situations .
What Is Static
Electricity?
• A stationary
electrical charge
that is built up on
the surface of a
material
Static electricity is the electric
charges generated through
friction. When two different
materials come in contact,
electrons may transfer from one
material to the other.
 Two kinds of charges
• After being rubbed, a
plastic ruler can attract
paper scraps.
Ruler carries electric charge.
It exerts electric force on paper.
This charging method is called charging by friction.

The interaction between static electric charges is called

electrostatics.
 Where do charges come from?

Matter is made up of atoms.

+ Proton (positive charge)

–
neutron (neutral)
+
+ +

– electron (negative charge)

– –

atom nucleus
 Electric Charge
• A property that leads to the electromagnetic
(repelling or attracting) interactions between
particles of matter.
• All matter is made up of atoms and atoms have
a natural neutral charge.
• Atoms contain
1. Protons (+)
2. Neutrons (0)
3. Electrons (-)
 Where do charges come from?
If electrons = protons ⇒neutral

If electrons > protons ⇒ gaining electrons, negative

charge
If electrons < protons ⇒ losing electrons, positive
charge
 Law of Electric Charges
• The law of electric charges states that like
charges repel, and opposite charges attract.

• Protons are positively charged and

electrons are negatively charged, so they
are attracted to each other.

• Without this attraction, electrons would

not be held in atoms.
Where do charges come from?

Rubbing materials does NOT create

electric charges. It just transfers
electrons from one material to the
other.
Where do charges come from?
When a balloon rubs a piece of wool...
electrons are pulled from the
– +
wool to the balloon.
– +
– The balloon has more electrons than
– +
– usual.
– +
wool + The balloon: – charged,
The wool: +charged
 Electric Field
• An electric field is the region
around a charged object where
electric forces can be exerted on
another charged object.
(Repelled or attracted)
 Charged Objects
How do objects get charged?
• They either gain or lose electrons.
Ex.
3 protons (+) & 5 electrons (-) =

7 protons (+) & 2 electrons (-) =

• There are 3 ways objects can be charged:

1. Friction
2. Conduction
3. Induction
**All are caused by electrons moving!
 Friction
• Charging by friction occurs when electrons are “wiped”
from one object onto another.

Ex.
If you use a cloth to rub a plastic ruler, electrons move
from the cloth to the ruler.
The ruler gains electrons and the cloth loses electrons.
 Conduction
• Charging by conduction happens when electrons move from
one object to another through direct contact (touching).
Ex. Suppose you touch an uncharged piece of metal with a
positively charged glass rod. Electrons from the metal will
move to the glass rod. The metal loses electrons and
becomes positively charged.
 Induction
• Charging by induction happens when
charges in an uncharged object are
rearranged without direct contact (no
touching) with a charged object.

Ex.: If you charge up a balloon through friction

and place the balloon near pieces of paper, the
charges of the paper will be rearranged and the
paper will be attracted to the balloon.
 Conservation of Charge
• When you charge something by any method, no
charges are created or destroyed.
• The numbers of electrons and protons stay the
same. Electrons simply move from one atom to
another, which makes areas that have different
charges.
 • Static electricity is the
electric charge at rest
on an object.
Static Electricity
• When something is
static, it is not moving.
• The charges of static
electricity do not move
away from the object
that they are in. So, the
object keeps its charge.

• Ex. Clothes taken out

of a dryer
 Insulators and conductors

Insulators: materials that do NOT allow

electrons to flow through them easily.

Insulators can be easily charged by friction as the extra

electrons gained CANNOT easily escape.
4 Insulators and conductors

Conductors: materials that allow electrons to flow

through them easily.

Conductors CANNOT be easily charged by friction as

the extra electrons gained can easily escape.
 Induction: The production of a charge in an
uncharged body by bringing a charged
object close to it
When negatively charged rod is put near a metal can...
electrons of the can are pushed
- - - - - - - away from the rod.
induced
charges attraction ⇒ top of the can: positive
++ + buttom of the can: negative
+ +
& attraction > repulsion
- -
metal - -
-
can
repulsion
 Attraction of uncharged objects
Similarly, when charged rod is close to paper
scrap...
molecules of paper align.
- - - - - - -
⇒ attraction between the
attraction
++ + + rod and + charge >
––– – repulsion between the rod
paper and - charge.
++ + +
––– –
repulsion
 Static Discharge
Human body can not feel less than
2,000 volts of static discharge

Static charge built up by scuffing

shoes on a carpet can exceed 20,000
volts?
 Gas Station Fires
• Carol said a static gas pump fire is blamed for
burning her daughter so badly she needed skin
grafts on her legs.

• Carol had put the gas pump nozzle on automatic

and re-entered her car to write a check. When her
then-12-year-old daughter, wearing a sweater and
jacket that may have created static electricity,
reached for the nozzle, flames suddenly ignited her
clothing.
 A balloon has a negative charge
when rubbed by a woollen cloth.
1 If the balloon can attract some paper scraps, which of the
following cannot be the charge of paper scraps?

A Neutral B Positive

C Negative
 A balloon has a negative charge
when rubbed by woollen cloth.

2 During rubbing, what have been transferred between the

woollen cloth and the balloon?

A Electrons B Protons

C Neutrons
How does a positively charged rod attract a
neutral object?

When a + charged rod is put near neutral object,

______________
negative charge is induced on the side of the object
near the rod and _____________
positive charge is induced on the side
away from the rod. The rod can attract the netural object
because _________
attraction between rod and – induced charge >
the ________
repulsion between rod and + induced charge.
 Grounding
What is grounding?

An object is grounded when it is connected

to the earth through a connecting wire.

If a charged conductor is grounded, it

will become neutral.
 Grounding
b How does grounding occur?
When we touch a metal ball of
positive charge...
+ +
+ electrons flow from the
+ +
–
earth to the metal ball to
neutralize the metal ball.
Metal ball becomes neutral.
 Grounding
How does grounding occur?
Similarly, if the metal ball is of
negative charge...
– –
– extra electrons flow
– –
from the metal ball to
–
the earth and the ball
becomes neutral.
Why do gasoline tankers usually have metal
chains at the back?

When cars run, their tires and bodies are usually

charged by _______.
friction For gasoline tankers, if the
accumulated charge is large enough, _______can
sparks be
produced and _________
explosion will occur if gasoline vapor is
ignited. Those metal chains conduct the charge on the
ground and avoid the danger.
bodies of tankers to the _______
 Lightning
• kills more • one mile every
than 60 people five seconds
and • about 20,000 C
• injures more • Voltage of up to
than 400 1.2x108 volts
people a year •
in the US