My 5 year old nephew actually asked me this today and i had no way to explain before explaining what electrons are, what is a charge..
How do I simplify it?
In: 14
When you rub your feet on carpet you rub off these little balls that are very tiny called electrons . The balls were stuck to the carpet but now stick you until they can find something better to stick to.
Electron balls love metal . So if you touch metal the balls will quickly jump to the metal . The metal has a magnetic feild and as it jumps onto the magnetic feild it makes a shock
When you rub your feet on carpet you rub off these little balls that are very tiny called electrons . The balls were stuck to the carpet but now stick you until they can find something better to stick to.
Electron balls love metal . So if you touch metal the balls will quickly jump to the metal . The metal has a magnetic feild and as it jumps onto the magnetic feild it makes a shock
When you rub your feet on carpet you rub off these little balls that are very tiny called electrons . The balls were stuck to the carpet but now stick you until they can find something better to stick to.
Electron balls love metal . So if you touch metal the balls will quickly jump to the metal . The metal has a magnetic feild and as it jumps onto the magnetic feild it makes a shock
“Charge” is a fundamental attribute. It’s an entirely new value to describe a particle.
There’s a field that stretches all over space, and we call that the electromagnetic field. “Charge” is the name we call the value in that field at whichever point we’re measuring. Electrons are particles that correspond to a certain value in that field; protons correspond to a different value. Charges come in two different flavors: positive, and negative. This isn’t literally negative values in the electromagnetic field. Think of it more like a color, though even that’s very incomplete. Opposite charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.
Static electricity is when there’s enough of a built-up charge of different types in two objects to cause enough of a difference in “voltage” (how much charge each has, but again: incomplete) between the two that the charges leap across the air to touch each other.
To ELI5 it for a literal five-year-old: You know how if you take two magnets, like poles repel each other and different poles attract each other? Electricity works like that. When two objects build up enough opposite charges, the electricity leaps through the air to equalize those objects. When you put your hand really close to something with a built up charge, you’re making it easier for the electricity to jump.
“Charge” is a fundamental attribute. It’s an entirely new value to describe a particle.
There’s a field that stretches all over space, and we call that the electromagnetic field. “Charge” is the name we call the value in that field at whichever point we’re measuring. Electrons are particles that correspond to a certain value in that field; protons correspond to a different value. Charges come in two different flavors: positive, and negative. This isn’t literally negative values in the electromagnetic field. Think of it more like a color, though even that’s very incomplete. Opposite charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.
Static electricity is when there’s enough of a built-up charge of different types in two objects to cause enough of a difference in “voltage” (how much charge each has, but again: incomplete) between the two that the charges leap across the air to touch each other.
To ELI5 it for a literal five-year-old: You know how if you take two magnets, like poles repel each other and different poles attract each other? Electricity works like that. When two objects build up enough opposite charges, the electricity leaps through the air to equalize those objects. When you put your hand really close to something with a built up charge, you’re making it easier for the electricity to jump.
“Charge” is a fundamental attribute. It’s an entirely new value to describe a particle.
There’s a field that stretches all over space, and we call that the electromagnetic field. “Charge” is the name we call the value in that field at whichever point we’re measuring. Electrons are particles that correspond to a certain value in that field; protons correspond to a different value. Charges come in two different flavors: positive, and negative. This isn’t literally negative values in the electromagnetic field. Think of it more like a color, though even that’s very incomplete. Opposite charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.
Static electricity is when there’s enough of a built-up charge of different types in two objects to cause enough of a difference in “voltage” (how much charge each has, but again: incomplete) between the two that the charges leap across the air to touch each other.
To ELI5 it for a literal five-year-old: You know how if you take two magnets, like poles repel each other and different poles attract each other? Electricity works like that. When two objects build up enough opposite charges, the electricity leaps through the air to equalize those objects. When you put your hand really close to something with a built up charge, you’re making it easier for the electricity to jump.
What *causes* static electricity?
If we take *causes* as the keyword here…
The phenomena of static electricity (sparks, crackles, shocks, charged balloons sticking to things, hair standing on end) … its all *caused* by rubbing different materials past each other and/or separating them (which causes the charge separation – but you don’t need to say that).
It only works for certain combinations of materials (like balloons and sweaters, or certain shoe-soles and certain carpets, or certain fabrics and car-seats).
Also it requires the air to be fairly dry (often happens in cold weather) otherwise the moisture in the air causes the static electricity to leak away before you can see/feel/hear its effects.
ELI5 -> static electricity is *caused* by rubbing some combinations of materials against each other, when it the air is dry enough that the static doesn’t leak away.
Also for geeks: [https://xkcd.com/2682](https://xkcd.com/2682)
What *causes* static electricity?
If we take *causes* as the keyword here…
The phenomena of static electricity (sparks, crackles, shocks, charged balloons sticking to things, hair standing on end) … its all *caused* by rubbing different materials past each other and/or separating them (which causes the charge separation – but you don’t need to say that).
It only works for certain combinations of materials (like balloons and sweaters, or certain shoe-soles and certain carpets, or certain fabrics and car-seats).
Also it requires the air to be fairly dry (often happens in cold weather) otherwise the moisture in the air causes the static electricity to leak away before you can see/feel/hear its effects.
ELI5 -> static electricity is *caused* by rubbing some combinations of materials against each other, when it the air is dry enough that the static doesn’t leak away.
Also for geeks: [https://xkcd.com/2682](https://xkcd.com/2682)
What *causes* static electricity?
If we take *causes* as the keyword here…
The phenomena of static electricity (sparks, crackles, shocks, charged balloons sticking to things, hair standing on end) … its all *caused* by rubbing different materials past each other and/or separating them (which causes the charge separation – but you don’t need to say that).
It only works for certain combinations of materials (like balloons and sweaters, or certain shoe-soles and certain carpets, or certain fabrics and car-seats).
Also it requires the air to be fairly dry (often happens in cold weather) otherwise the moisture in the air causes the static electricity to leak away before you can see/feel/hear its effects.
ELI5 -> static electricity is *caused* by rubbing some combinations of materials against each other, when it the air is dry enough that the static doesn’t leak away.
Also for geeks: [https://xkcd.com/2682](https://xkcd.com/2682)
“Static electricity” is a funny name for what we can also call “charge separation”.
Normally, in most atoms, electric charges are balanced. That is, most of your atoms have the same number of protons and electrons. However, when certain objects rub together, they tend to transfer electrons from one object to the other. This makes one object positively charged and the other negatively charged — the charges have been separated.
This was first observed by rubbing a piece of amber (the mineral) with a cloth, way back in Ancient Greece. They didn’t know about protons and electrons. Well, sort of — the Greek word for amber is *elektron* and that’s where we get the word from!
(And if your name is Amber, in Greek you could be called Electra.)
An electric charge is either having extra electrons (negative charge) or having too few electrons (positive charge). When given a chance — a conductor, specifically — electrons will jump across from one object to another to “heal” the charge separation. When they jump through air, that creates a spark!
However, charges also naturally just bleed away into the air without a spark, slowly over time. This happens quicker in humid air than in dry air, which is why you get more “static” in dry climates.
Latest Answers