You know, I think I’m just going to stop doing these introductions because I really have nothing to say. So here’s to the last intro.
Electric charge:
Some materials become charged with electrostatic charge (or static electricity) when rubbed. What is this and what causes it?
There are 2 different and opposite types of charge:positive and negative charge. Like charges repel, opposite charges attract. The closer the charges the greater the force between them.
Where does charge come from? As we know, all matter is made up of atoms. These atoms have electric charges inside them, there is a nucleus made upon protons and neutrons. Overall the charge in the nucleus is positive because protons have a +ve charge and neutrons have no charge. Whizzing around the nucleus are tiny particles called electrons have -ve charge. These two charges cancel out so that the net charge of a material is zero. However, when 2 materials are rubbed together, electrons may be transferred from one to the other, so that one material is left with negative charge and the other with positive. So remember: rubbing materials together does not make electric charge, it simply separates charges that are already there.