Lets begin with some questions.

1) What is electricity made of?2) How are static electricity and the electricity

found in our homes similar and different?3) What is electricity's relationship with

magnetism?

Static Electricity and Charges

Magnets, Static Electricity, Electricity, OH MY!!

• You are all familiar with magnets, static electricity, and electricity. However did you know that all three are related to one another?

• All three (magnets, static electricity, and electricity) are the result of a single property of matter...electric charge.

Atoms

• The electron is negatively charged.• The proton is positively charged.• The neutron has no charge, it is neutral.

Charge

• Most things have the same number of electrons and protons in them, and they don’t have any overall charge.

• If this isn’t true though interesting things can happen.

Changing Charge

• How can we change a charge of an object?– In order to change a charge we need to have

electrons move away from their atom they were attached to.

– This can be done a number of ways. One of the simplest is by rubbing two objects together.

Charge

Lets imagine that we have an object that is filled with atoms. Well some of these atoms can have different “charges” based on the number of positive and negative atoms the object will have a positive, negative, or neutral charge.

We will draw atoms, just "+" and "–" to illustrate the overall charges

Charge

We will draw atoms, just "+" and "–" to illustrate the overall charges

e.g. a neutral object

5 +5 -

overall charge 0

Charge

We will draw atoms, just "+" and "–" to illustrate the overall charges

e.g. a positive object

5 +3 -

overall charge 2+

Charge

We will draw atoms, just "+" and "–" to illustrate the overall charges

e.g. a negative object

5 +8 -

overall charge 3 -

What is Static Electricity?

Static Electricity: an imbalance of electric charge on the surface of an object.•Static electricity is caused when certain materials are rubbed against each other.•Electrons can be rubbed off one material and on to another. •The material that has got extra electrons is now negatively charged•The material which has lost electrons is positively charged.

What is Static Electricity?

Law of Electric Charges:

What is Static Electricity?

Law of Electric Charges:1. Opposite charges attract

What is Static Electricity?

Law of Electric Charges:1. Opposite charges attract2. Like charges repel

What is Static Electricity?

Law of Electric Charges:1. Opposite charges attract2. Like charges repel3. Charged objects attract neutral objects

Why not static electricity?

• If static electricity and electrical current are the same thing (electrons), why don’t we use it as a power source?– Static electricity is not stable enough to be a

continuous or regular source of energy.

Gaining Charge

• How does a piece of matter become charged?– What does a neutral charged atom look like?– What does a positively charged atom look like?– What does a negatively charged atom look like?

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Remember all forms of energy have kinetic and potential energy.

Analogy

The electric field is the space around an electrical charge

just like

a gravitational field is the space around a mass.

Electric Field

• Space around a charge.

What is the difference?

Electric Field Lines

Electric Field Lines of two Positive Charges

Electric Field Lines• Lines that indicate the strength and

direction of the electric field.• The more dense the lines, the stronger the

field.

Which field is stronger?

• A B

Electrical Potential

• Electricity has potential:– This energy comes from the charge particle has

due to its position in an electric field.– Because like charges repel, it takes energy to push

a charged particle closer to another particle with a like charge. That energy is stored as the electric potential energy. These particles can move and want to/will when it is free to move.