Static Electricity
Article by: A.G. Bailey, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
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Electric charge at rest, resulting from an imbalance of positive and negative electric
charges on a surface or within a material. The imbalance of electric charges is generally
produced by friction or electrostatic induction. The electric charges build up on or within
a material until there is a release or discharge to another material. In this regard, static
electricity is a familiarly encountered phenomenon, for instance when walking across
carpet and then touching a metal doorknob. Extra electrons that have accumulated on
and within the body transfer to the doorknob upon contact, resulting in an electric shock
to the fingertip. Another common example of static electricity is when hair stands on
end after the friction caused by taking off a knit hat (see illustration). In this instance, the
negatively charged chair is drawn to the positively charged hat, while the accumulated
electrons in the hair repel each other, causing the hair strands to separate.
The discovery of static electricity is usually credited to the Greek philosopher Thales.
In the sixth century BCE, Thales described experiments in which rubbed amber induced
movement in nearby particles. It was not until the eighteenth century, when U.S.
scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin carried out his kite-flying experiments in
which he "captured" some thunderstorm electricity in a Leyden jar, that it was verified that
thunderstorm electricity and static electricity were one and the same.
Triboelectrification is the process whereby charge transfer between dissimilar materials,
at least one of which must have a high electrical resistivity, occurs due to rubbing or
mere contact, as in the prior example of the carpet-walking and doorknob-touching. In
industrial contexts, contact and separation of materials occur during powder processing
and the manufacture of plastic and other materials in sheet form.
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A person takes off a knit hat, generating static
electricity in their hair. (Credit: Brook Rieman/Getty
Images)
Key Concepts
• Static electricity is electric charge at rest that results from an imbalance of positive
and negative electric charges on a surface or within a material.
• Electric charges build up on or within a material until there is a release or discharge
to another material.
• Triboelectrification is the process whereby charge transfer between dissimilar
materials occurs through rubbing or mere contact.
• The control of static electricity is important in a number of industrial processes.
