Um, how does static electricity form? And i dont mean just by friction...i mean the WHOLE PROCESS.....tnx!?

Question

Um, how does static electricity form? And i dont mean just by friction...i mean the WHOLE PROCESS.....tnx!?

Answer 1

The most familiar way in which we are acquainted with static electricity is when two surfaces are rubbed together. Who hasn't done the balloon-and-hair trick, or shuffled along the carpet in order to zap their sister with a spark? The technical term is the "triboelectric effect", and it happens when two materials exchange negatively-charged particles: electrons. The atoms in different materials either have a tendency to either lose weakly-bound electrons, or to capture free electrons. If you bring two materials together, one which tends to lose electrons and one which tends to gain them, electrons move from one material to the other, imparting a negative charge on one material and a positive charge on the other. As soon as you have opposing electrical charges on materials then the familiar effects of static electricity become apparent. While the materials carry this charge, they will attract opposite-charged materials, like hair, bits of paper, etc. If the charge builds up enough a spark can jump between them, equalling the charges again.