![]() ![]() Because they have the same charge, your hair will stand on end. Don’t worry, it is only the surplus electrons being released from you to your unsuspecting pet.Īnd 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. As you reach and touch your furry friend, you get a shock. The electrons cling to your body until they can be released. ![]() For example, if you rub your shoe on the carpet, your body collects extra electrons. The rubbing of certain materials against one another can transfer negative charges, or electrons. Frances Benjamin Johnston, photographer, c.1899. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress Group of young women studying static electricity in normal school, Washington, D.C. One way to discharge them is through a circuit. These charges can build up on the surface of an object until they find a way to be released or discharged. Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges in an object. Most of the time positive and negative charges are balanced in an object, which makes that object neutral. Like charges repel each other (positive to positive or negative to negative). Opposite charges attract each other (negative to positive). Therefore, all things are made up of charges. The protons are positively charged, the electrons are negatively charged, and the neutrons are neutral. Inside an atom are protons, electrons and neutrons. Prints and Photographs Catalog, Library of Congress.Īll physical objects are made up of atoms. Young man seated next to a Holtz electrostatic influence machine, Dickinson College, 1889. Why do these things happen? Is it magic? No, it’s not magic it’s static electricity!īefore understanding static electricity, we first need to understand the basics of atoms and magnetism. 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? Two girls are “electrified” during an experiment at the Liberty Science Center “Camp-in”, February 5, 2002. An imbalance between negative and positive charges in objects. ![]()
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