Static Electricity Flashcards
What type of charge do protons have
Positive
What type of charge does an electron have?
Negative
What type of charge does a neutron have
None
What is static electricity?
Electric charge that accumulates on an insulated object
What can sometimes cause static electricity
Friction
What are charged atoms called
Ions
What happens when electrons are “rubbed off” onto a material
The material that gains electrons becomes negatively charged
The one that looses electrons becomes negatively charged
What happens when a polythene rod is rubbed with a duster?
The friction causes electrons to gain energy
Electrons gain enough energy to leave the atom and “rub off” onto the polythene rod
What happens when an acetate is rubbed with a duster?
The acetate rod looses electrons giving it a positive charge
The duster gains electrons giving it a negative charge
What do insulators do to electrons?
They prevent the electrons from moving and the charge remains static
What do conductors do to electrons
They cannot hold the charge as electrons can move through them
Where are electric fields
Around every charged object
What does a Van De Graaff generator do?
Removes electrons to produce a positive charge
What does a person have to do to deal the effects of a Van De Graaff generator
Nothing because static electricity is a non contact force
It will act on any charged particle in the electric field around the generator
What happens if a person touches the dome of a Van De Graaff generator?
They loose all electrons and become positively charged
Since all hair follicles are positively charged the hairs will repel from the head and stand up
How are electric fields drawn?
Direction of the arrow shows the way a positive charge will be pushed
Close the arrows the stronger the field and the force experienced
What happens with a radial field around a positive charge?
Other positive charged are repelled way
Therefore arrows are pointing away from central positive charge
What happens if a negative charge is placed in a radial field?
It would attract the positive charge and feel a force in the opposite directions to the field lines
What is a uniform field?
Field between two parallel plates, one positive and the other negative
What are fields between to parallel lines like?
Uniform field from positive to negative
What happens if a field is strong enough?
Charged can be forced through insulators and a spark will occur
