STATIC ELECTRICITY

By Vivaan
 WHAT IS STATIC ELECTRICITY
• Static electricity is an imbalance of charges caused by positively or negatively objects’
electric fields coming in contact.
• Every object has an electric field which is a basically a property that exists because of the
slightest of electric charges.
• Like subatomic charges repel each other as both of their electric fields generate an electric
force that is in the outward direction in positively charged particles and inwards in
negatively charged particles. Unlike subatomic charges attract because of the above reason.
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
• Benjamin Franklin was a British American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the
United States. Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician,
Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
• He was one of the founding fathers to locate the United States of America and also
discovered and investigated static electricity when he flew a kite during a thunder storm.
 THE KITE EXPERIMENT
• By conducting the kite experiment Franklin proved that lighting was an electrical discharge
and realized that it can be charged over a conductor into the ground providing a safe
alternative path and eliminating the risk of deadly fires.
• He discovered the fact that lightning wasn’t just electricity, but was a form of discharged
electricity that actually could be conducted in metals and the atoms would become
electrically neutral.
 EXPERIMENTS FOR STATIC
ELECTRICITY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEhUfXb6bIQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrh5FeGUTJA
 CHARGES
• The force of friction that causes an object to become charged. When a plastic rod is rubbed
on a cloth, friction causes electrons to transfer from one object to another. If the rod is made
of polythene, it is usually the case that electrons are rubbed off the cloth and onto the rod.
• When you have a plastic rod and few pieces of paper, you rub the plastic rod with your head,
that causes the rod to gain a charge. Now, when you put the rod near the pieces of papers,
the papers attach themselves or get attracted to the rod and depending on the rod is
positively charged or negatively charged, the paper will donate electrons or gain electrons
to/from the rod.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFlVWf8JX4A