How is static electricity caused?

Question

I know it has something to do with like positive neutrons or something. I just forgot.

Answer 1

Um, dude, there is no such thing as a "negative neutron"... All neutrons are just chargeless proton-sized particles in the nucleus.

Anyway, two things give matter charge: protons for positive charge, and electrons for negative charge. The protons exist in an atom's nucleus, and are held down by some very strong forces (literally called "strong forces"), so they're not really going anywhere, except in a nuclear reaction. The electrons, however, exist in a cloud all around the atom, and are held in place only by their attraction to the positive nucleus (opposite charges attract). It gets kind of crowded in that cloud, though, with all the charged electrons repelling each other (same charges repel, and electrons all have a charge of -1 coulomb), and there are no strong forces to hold them together, so occasionally, some will fly off. You're probably confused by what I mean by cloud, as you're probably used to seeing electrons orbiting the nucleus the way we orbit the sun. That is an oversimplified model; in reality, the electrons can be anywhere, although they are much more likely to be in a zone NEAR the nucleus but not too close (too cramped) or not too far away, so we sort of shade in the area around the nucleus as a "probable" location.

Anyway, back to your question. Pretend your have two objects, A and B. Originally, they're both balanced in terms of charge; for every proton, there is an electron. However, as you rub object A with object B, it is possible for A's electrons to go flying off and land on object B (or vice versa, depending on who is better at holding down electrons). When that happens, the balance is disrupted. The guy who received electrons is now too negative, and the guy who lost electrons is too positive. Ta da!

Now, nature is not happy being unbalanced, and will try to correct itself. If your finger, say, has too many electrons on it, they might go jumping off and onto somebody near you. This flow of electrons is the little zap you experience.

Answer 2

To truly smooth electric powered aspects such as the fashion used in operating theatres static electrical energy could have an same result to throwing water on the aspects . Ceramic tiles do no longer reason static electrical energy because they couldn't carry an electric powered cost .

Answer 3

Electrons (negative neutrons) to be more precise. When you rub two things (eg. a plastic container any a nylon cloth) together, one will receive all the positive neutrons, leaving negative neutron to the other. When it comes to contact withj something like your body (a conductor), electrons will be passed to your body. That's why static happens.

Answer 4

static electricity occurs because of the separation of electrons from their atoms.

rubbing two objects can achieve this separation ( depending on the material ).

the negative charged electrons seek to return to their atoms ( positive ).

this returning process generates static electricity ( which we see as "static" )

in short, all electricity is the flow of electrons ( hence the name)

there is no relavance of "positive neutrons" in this scenario ( or any others as no such particle exists ).

hope your question was answered !

thanks

:)

Answer 5

i rub carpet like 10 hrs straight and after that i can zap a person through a dry wall it is very neat if you have enemies. people call me zapman.

Answer 6

by friction