What is static electricity?

Static electricity is the build up of charges on an object, but they do

not flow.

Static Charge

What is a charged object?A neutral object can become charged by gaining or

losing electrons. If an object loses electrons, it is left with more protons (positive charge) than

electrons (negative charge).

Can you transfer charges?

Charges must be transferred from one object to another through friction,

conduction, or induction.

This is the transfer of electrons from one object to another by rubbing.

Friction

This is the transfer of electrons from a charged object to another object by direct contact.

Conduction

This is the movement of electrons to one part of an object caused by the electric field of another object.

Induction

What gains/loses electrons?If an object gives up electrons, another object gains those electrons.

Electrons are only transferred from one location to another.

Charges are not created nor destroyed.

Rubber (-)

Fur (+)

Wool (+)

Amber (-)

Silk (-)

Glass (+)

When a negatively charged object and a positively charged object are brought together, electrons move

until both objects have the same charge.

LightningLightning is an example of static discharge.

During thunderstorms, air swirls violently. Water droplets within the clouds become electrically charged.

• A Van de Graff generator produces static electricity. Electrons are carried up a rubber belt and are transferred to the metal sphere.

Van de Graff Generator

++ +

In a series circuit, there is only one path for the current to take.

+ + +

In a parallel circuit, there are several paths for current to take.

Advantages/DisadvantagesSeries Circuit

Advantage

Easy to design and build

Disadvantage

When one device fails they all fail

Energy must be shared by all devicesParallel Circuit

Advantage

When one device fails the others remain on

Disadvantage

Hard to design and build

We Use Electricity Everyday!

Electrical Safety in the home (Internet Activity)

Click on the two links below to play two different internet Electrical Safety games.

• Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist who invented the battery in 1800; hence “Volt”

• Georg Simon Ohm was a German physicist who did the experiments that resulted in Ohm’s Law in 1827

• Andre Marie Ampere was a French mathematician and physicist who made many contributions to our understanding of electricity in the 1820s

Historical Notes:

How electricity arrives in your home.

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