What is Static Electricity?

All physical objects are made up of atoms. Inside an atom are protons, electrons and neutrons. The protons are positively charged, the electrons are negatively charged, and the neutrons are neutral. Normally atoms have equal numbers of protons and electrons, so that positive and negative charges are compensated. Thus, the whole burden of the atom is neutral. But if two objects rub against each other, some electrons can pass from one atom to another. Atoms that gain new negatively charged electrons gain. The losers, are positively charged. When the charges are separated in this way is called static electricity. Static electricity results from electrons being knocked off of the surface of atoms, which leaves a net positive charge. If two things have different charges, they attract, or pull towards each other. If two things have the same charge, they reject, or push away from each other. If you walk across a carpet, electrons move from the rug to you. Now you have extra electrons. Touch a door knob and ZAP ! The electrons move from you to the knob. You get a shock. You come inside from the cold, pull off your hat and BOING !!! Static hair - that static electricity makes your hair stand straight out from your head.

How Static Electricity is created The atoms that form all objects contain electrons, which carry a negative charge. Certain types of atoms have outer shells of electrons which are nearly full, meaning they have 6 or 7 electrons in their outer shells, and are very receptive to attracting and taking on new electrons. Other types of atoms may only have a couple electrons in their outer shells, which can mean the electrons are weakly bound to the atom. When a surface with weakly bound atoms is rubbed across one which attracts electrons, the weakly bound atoms will transfer electrons to the other surface, causing it to be negatively charged, while the weakly bound atoms gain a positive charge. Since similar charges repel one another, it is possible to observe static charge when it builds up in strands of hair or fur, since the individual pieces of hair repel one another and stand up on end.

How Static Electricity Happen Sometimes, as you rub two materials together the tiny, negatively charged electrons move from one material to another. This means that one material has too many negatives, so becomes negative overall. The other material doesn't have enough negatives, so becomes positively charged

Lightning is caused by the discharge phenomena on the floor of the static electricity that is generated in clouds by the friction of the water crystals they contain. The burden is not created nor destroyed When you load an object with static electricity, electrons do not create or destroy, or do not appear or disappear protons. The electrons simply move from one place to another. The global burden, therefore, persists. This is what is called the principle of conservation of charge. Winter-summer Generally, only notice static electricity in winter when the air is very dry. During the summer, the air is humid. The water in the air helps electrons to leave our body because it is electrically conductive, and for this we can not carry us far enough.

References : http://www.loc.gov http://www.ehow.com http://www.sciencemadesimple.com