Electrostatic/Static Electricity.

Static electricity can be defined as electric charge at rest. It involves electric charges, the forces
between them and their behavior in materials.

Structure of Matter.

Matter consists of particles called atoms. Each atom has negatively-charged electrons orbiting
around a small dense nucleus. The nucleus consists of positively-charged particles called protons and
neutral particles called neutrons.

Note:

i. In the normal state, an atom has an equal number of electrons and protons. Thus, it is
electrically neutral or balanced.

ii. A neutral atom is electrified/ionized when some electrons are removed from it or added
to it.

iii. If an atom has some of its electrons removed, it becomes positively charged. If electrons
are added to an atom, the atom becomes negatively charged.

Types of Charges.

There are two types of charges:

i. Positive charge;

ii. Negative charge.

An object becomes negatively charged when it gains electrons (e.g., rubbing ebonite rod with fur).
An object is positively charged when it loses electrons (e.g., rubbing a glass rod with silk). Therefore,
charging involves the transfer of electrons.

Properties of Electric Charges.

i. Two kinds of charges only exist in nature.

ii. Unlike charges attract one another and like charges repel.

iii. Charge is conserved (i.e., not created but only exchanged or transferred) in an isolated
system.

iv. Charge is quantized (a multiple of fundamental unit of charge, e).

v. S.I unit of charge is coulomb (e = 1.6 × 10-19C).

vi. Electric charge is a scalar and fundamental quantity of particles.

vii. Charge can be transferred by conduction or induction.

Conductors and Insulators.

Conductors.

These are materials that allow electrons to pass through them easily. E.g. all metals, damp air, acids,
salt solutions, the Earth, the human body etc.

Insulators.

These are materials that do not allow electrons to pass through them easily. E.g. plastic, polythene,
ebonite, paper, dry air, silk, oils, glass, Sulphur, wood etc.

Generally, good conductors of heat are also good conductors of electricity.

Neutralizing charged Insulators or Conductors.

To neutralize a charged body is to remove the excess (positive or negative) charge from it. This
process is known as discharging.

Discharging Charged Insulator (e.g. Glass rod).

i. Heating the insulator (e.g. glass rod) over a flame.

ii. All charged insulators also discharged slowly when left in humid conditions.

Discharging Charged Conductors.

Charged conductors, such as a metal sphere with excess electrons, can be discharged (i.e. removing
the excess electrons) by earthing or grounding it. To earth or ground a charged conductor is to
provide a path way (usually any large conductor) for the electrons to flow away from the charged
conductor, causing it to become electrically neutral.

Earthing a negatively-charged metal sphere.

EarthlYing a Positively-Charged Metal Sphere.

For a positively-charged metal sphere, earthing will cause the electrons from the earth to flow
towards the positively-charged sphere, thus neutralizing it.

Note.

The purpose of insulating stands holding the metal sphere in the diagrams above is to prevent any
direct electron flow between the charged metal sphere and the Earth. The human body is a
relatively good conductor and therefore acts as a conducting path for the electrons in these cases.

Production of Charges.

There are three ways by which charges can be produced:

i. by contact;
iii. by friction;
iv. by induction.

Charging by Friction.

When two bodies are rubbed against each other, electrons are transferred from one substance to
another. The substance which acquires an excess electron becomes negatively charged, while the
one which loses becomes positively charged.

When an ebonite rod is rubbed with fur, the ebonite rod acquires a charge by friction. Similarly, a
glass rod acquires a charge when rubbed with silk cloth.

Equal and opposite charges are produced by friction. Thus, when an ebonite rod is rubbed with fur,
negative charges are produced on the rod and equals the number of positive charges left on the fur.

The table below summarizes the charges produced on some common materials due to the friction
process.
 Material Positive charge Negative charge

1. Glass rod rubbed with silk Glass Silk

2. Ebonite rod rubbed with fur Fur Ebonite

3. Plastic comb rubbed with hair Hair Plastic

4. Perspex ruler rubbed with woolen duster Perspex Wool

5. Polythene strip rubbed with woolen duster wool polythene

Note:

i. Friction can produce positive and negative charges on different materials.

ii. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

iii. A charged material can attract an uncharged material.

Charging by Contact.

This occurs when a charged conductor shares its charge with another conductor which was initially
uncharged during contact between them. When separated, both bodies now carry charges of same
sign and such that the total charge on both of them after contact equals the total before contact.

Law of Conservation of Charge.

It states that, charge is always conserved i.e., the total amount of charge among bodies/objects
before the process of charging (i.e., by friction, contact or by induction) starts is the same after the
process ends.

Charging by Induction.

Electrostatic induction is the act of charging a neutral body by placing a charged body near it without
any contact between the two bodies. When a body is charged by induction, it acquires a charge of
opposite sign to that inducing it.

To charge a conductor by induction requires four steps:

Step 1: Bring a charged body (say negatively-charged rod) near to the conductor supported by an
insulating stand.
Step 2: Some free electrons are repelled by the excess electrons on the rod. So, we have negative
charge at the right surface of the sphere and a net positive charge at the left. These excess charges
are called induced charges.

Step 3: With the negatively-charged rod still in place, the conductor to be charged is earthed. This is
done by touching the conductor at the other end (i.e., the right surface with negative charge). Excess
electrons from the conductor flow through the body to the Earth.

Step 4: Finally, the charging rod is removed, leaving a net positive charge on the conductor. This
positive charge is now distributed on the conductor to attain electrostatic equilibrium.

Note:

Charging a single conductor by induction will always result in a charge that is opposite to that of the
charging rod.

Quiz:

What would be the effect of removing the negatively-charged rod while the conductor is still
Earthed?

How to charge two conductors with equal and opposite charges .

Gold Leaf Electroscope.

An electroscope is a device used to:

i. detect the presence of charge;

ii. test for the sign of the charge and

iii. determine the magnitude of the charge.

An electroscope consists of a flat brass cap and a brass rod onto which a thin brass plate and gold
leaf are attached. The brass rod is insulated from the metal case. The metal case is made drought-
proof with two glass sides such that the gold leaf can be clearly seen. The metal case is connected to
the ground to prevent an accumulation of charges due to other influences. The gold leaf is the part
of the instrument which illustrates the presence of charges in the cap and rod with its angle of
deflection.

To Determine the Type and Magnitude of Charge on a Body Using an Electroscope .

Distribution of Charges on Conductors.

The concentration of charges on a conductor is greatest at the sharpest point of the conductor. The
charges on a conductor are not uniformly distributed over the surface unless the conducting body is
a sphere.
When a highly charged pointed conductor is placed in contact with air, it causes the air around the
sharp point to become ionized into positive and negative ions. This process of ionization due to
sharp charged point in known as point action. The effect is noticeable in lightning conductors.

Lightning and Lightning Conductors.

Lightning:

Is a sudden discharge or neutralizing of electric charges and it occurs when charges build up in cloud.
This discharge or heavy spark is observed as a very bright flash which is called lightning.

In a thunder cloud, there is a region of positive charges and a region of negative charges. As the
charges build up, the attraction increases steadily until a heavy spark or discharge is produced (i.e.
lightning) as the charges approach one another.

During discharge to the Earth, lightning strikes the tallest building and the discharge is conducted to
the Earth through the path of least resistance. The current passing away may produce tremendous
heat and sometimes set the house ablaze.

Lightning Conductors.

In order to protect a building from the damage of lightning, a lightning conductor is employed.
Lightning conductors work on the principle of point action. A lightning conductor consists of sharp
pointed rods or spikes attached to the highest point of a building or structure. The lightning
conductor is joined by a thick strip of copper cable to copper plate buried in the ground (Earth)
beside the building.

Storage of Charges.

There are two devices that can be used to store or transfer electric charges:
 i. the electrophorous;

ii. the capacitor.

Electrophorous.

The electrophorous is a device for transferring and storing charges. It produces electric charges by
electrostatic induction.

Capacitor.

A capacitor has two parallel metal plates separated by a short distance in a dielectric insulating
medium. A capacitor is typically used for storing charges in electric circuits.