Static Electricity 

Static electricity is more than just getting zapped when you touch the door or car. This is what static electricity is.

Everything is made up of atoms. Imagine a gold ring. Divide it in half. Keep dividing one half until it gets so small that you can only see it through a microscope. Keep dividing and dividing it and that would be an atom.

Everything around us is made of atoms. Scientists have found 115 different types of atoms so far. In the middle of each atom is a thing called a nucleus. The nucleus is made up of tiny things called protons and neutrons. Another thing called an electron orbits the nucleus. Protons have a positive charge while electrons have a negative charge. Neutrons are neutral.

The protons and neutrons are held on to the nucleus very tightly. The electrons are also held on tightly but sometimes the electrons become lose and fall off. That means that the atom becomes more positively charged. Another way that nucleuses can loose some electrons is when two things like jumpers rub together. So what static electricity is, is an imbalance of positive and negative charges.

 

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