Understanding the Science of Static Electricity

You may be walking across a soft carpet while trying reach for the door handle of your fridge when suddenly you experience an electric shock. The door handle is in no way connected to any direct source of electricity, so why did you experience the shock? it due to a phenomenon known as static electricity.

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Understanding the Nature of matter

To understand static electricity, we first need to know about the nature of matter. I remember my secondary school days when our teacher defined matter as anything that has mass and can occupy space. Matter is made up of atoms which is made up of 3 particles: Neutrons, Protons, and Electrons. The Neutrons possess no charge at all so they are said to be neutral, while the electrons possess a negative charge and the Protons are positively charged particles.

Nature always strive to balance out the charge in matter, but in most cases one type of particle will exist in more quantity than the other. In the case of a positively charged body, the number of positive protons are more than the electrons, while a negatively charged body has more electrons than protons. This situations is what is known as a charge Imbalance.

Because Electrons loosely bounded together, any slight friction will make them leave their atoms and move into other atoms. This process is what is known as static discharge this occurs so as to maintain the charge equilibrium in an atom.

What is Static Electricity

Static Electricity is as a result of an imbalance of between the negative and positive charges in a body or on the surface of an object. This phenomenon doesn't happen with all objects especially those that do not permit the flow of electrons
in and out of their atoms.

Conductors like metals or salt water have loosely bound outer electrons which can easily flow between atoms, whereas Insulators like rubber and plastic have tightly bound electrons that which would not flow into other atoms. Static buildup will most likely occur when one of the materials involved is a conductor and the other an insulator. For instance, when walking on a rug (an insulator) your body's loosely bound electrons escape into the rug there by leaving your with a net positive charge, however when you touch a door knob (a conductor), the knobs's loosely bound electrons migrate to your hands to replace your body's lost electrons, so what happens is that you experience an electric shock.

Like charges repel and unlike charges attract

when 2 objects have the same net charge then they will repel each other, while if they have different charges (one positive and the other negative), they will attract each other.

If you charge a balloon by rubbing it against your hair, the electrons from your body is transferred to the balloon, and it therefore becomes negatively charged. When you hold this balloon close to a neutral object like paper, an attraction occurs between the balloon and the paper. When you hold it close to a conductor many of the electrons in the conductor will move far away from the balloon there by leaving behind the positively charged protons.

Prevention of static electricity

Static electricity can be prevented by treating the item sensitive to static discharge with the application of anti-static agent, this helps to ensure that any excess charge is evenly distributed.

Semi conductor devices used in electronics are very sensitive to static electricity, they can be protected by placing them in an anti-static bag. Also using a Humidifier in your home could increase he moisture in your home thereby reducing the risks of receiving static shocks.

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For Further Reading

Static electricity
What is Static Electricity?
Deal With Static Electricity In Hair
Worried about lightning striking your home? Consider a traditional remedy
Structure of matter

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