Static Electricity

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03fd4c00dduajq.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Science For All"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="site_map_and_site_search_engine.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Science for all site map"><U>Site map + site search engine</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Student pages switchboard"><U>Switchboard</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="slg.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="solids, liquids and gases"><U>solids, liquids and gases</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="slg_structure.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Solids, liquids and gases their molecul"><U>Solids, liquids and gases - their 'molecular' structure</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Changes of state"><U>Changes of state</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Air resistance"><U>Air resistance</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mass and weight"><U>Mass and weight</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Conduction of heat"><U>Conduction of heat</U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Static Electricity</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Acid Rain factfile"><U>Acid Rain factfile</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0f8a0a03.png"> <div> Static Electricity</div> <bR> <div> You are visiting the Science For All site</div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0f7f4040.png" border=0 width="500" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> Most people know that you can pick up bits of paper using a plastic object that has been rubbed on a sleeve. At some time, you may have stuck a ballon onto a wall after rubbing it on your clothing. You are probably aware that both of these are caused by static electricity. What is static electricity? Why is it called static? What causes static electricity? Is it harmful? Can it be helpful? Hopefully, these questions will be answered by the time you have reached the bottom of this page.</div> <bR> <div> All objects have both negative and positive electrical charge. Consider the piece of polythene and the duster drawn below:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="2b916910.png" border=0 width="534" height="145" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> If you count up the number of positive and negative charges, you see that each object has exactly the same amount of both. After rubbing the polythene with the duster:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2bb20920.png" border=0 width="544" height="146" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Notice that the polythene now has more negative charge than positive charge but where has it come from? If you look at the duster, you will see that it is the source of the negative charge. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >Important point:</FONT> it is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" >only </FONT>the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" >negative </FONT>charge that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" >moves</FONT>, the positive charge stays where it is. The negative charge actually surface electrons from the donor material.</div> <bR> <div> This type of electricity is called static electricity because it does not move after it has been 'generated' unless it is connected to 'earth' by an electrical conductor. In order for the charges to remain static, they must be generated on insulating materials. If static electricity is generated on a conductor, they will travel to earth. </div> <div>  <A NAME="static"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Static electricity problems"><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ff990000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Click here to view problems of static electricity</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Static electricity uses"><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ff990000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Click here to view uses of static electricity</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Try searching the internet for more information about electrostatics:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=31103363&siteid=35044309&bfpage=football" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <FORM ACTION="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click" > <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="siteid" VALUE="35044309" > <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="bfpage" VALUE="football"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="bfmid" VALUE="31103363" > <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD BGCOLOR="#009900"><IMG SRC="http://www.ask.co.uk/docs/about/questionboxes/questionbox16_a.gif" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="73"></TD> </TR> <TR><FORM ACTION="http://www.ask.co.uk/main/askjeeves.asp" METHOD="GET"> <TD BGCOLOR="#009900" ALIGN="center" BACKGROUND="http://www.ask.co.uk/docs/about/questionboxes/questionbox16_b.gif" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="21"><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="ask" SIZE="13"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="scope" VALUE="web"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="origin" VALUE="nnnn"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="qSource" VALUE="n"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD BGCOLOR="#009900"><INPUT TYPE="image" SRC="http://www.ask.co.uk/docs/about/questionboxes/questionbox16_c.jpg" BORDER="0" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="40"></TD> </FORM></TR> </TABLE> </FORM>  </div> <bR> <div>  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>