Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. The charge remains until it can move away by an electric current or electrical discharge . The word "static" is used to differentiate it from current electricity , where an electric charge flows through an electrical conductor .
If the electric field in a system can be assumed to result from static charges, that is, a system that exhibits no significant time-varying magnetic fields, the system is justifiably analyzed using only the principles of electrostatics. This is called the "electrostatic approximation". [12]
The surface is the only location where a net electric charge can exist. [4]: p.754 This establishes the principle that electrostatic charges on conductive objects reside on the surface of the object. [3] [7] External electric fields induce surface charges on metal objects that exactly cancel the field within. [3]
Polarization density, general description of the physics of polarization; Static electricity, electric charge often but not always due to triboelectricity; Tribology, science of friction, lubrication and wear; Triboluminescence, light associated with sliding or contacts; Work function, the energy to remove an electron from a surface
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two differently-charged objects when brought close together or when the dielectric between them breaks down, often creating a visible spark associated with the static electricity between the objects.
Also, macroscopic objects made of conductive elements can more or less easily (depending on the element) take on or give off electrons, and then maintain a net negative or positive charge indefinitely. When the net electric charge of an object is non-zero and motionless, the phenomenon is known as static electricity.
The electric field was formally defined as the force exerted per unit charge, but the concept of potential allows for a more useful and equivalent definition: the electric field is the local gradient of the electric potential. Usually expressed in volts per metre, the vector direction of the field is the line of greatest slope of potential, and ...
Electrostatic machines are typically used in science classrooms to safely demonstrate electrical forces and high voltage phenomena. The elevated potential differences achieved have been also used for a variety of practical applications, such as operating X-ray tubes, particle accelerators, spectroscopy, medical applications, sterilization of food, and nuclear physics experiments.