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
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)
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