I read that static electricity happens when two insulating materials run against each other and take the electrons out of atoms, and those electrons are what makes the static electricity. So my question is, what happens to those atoms that get their electrons removed, do they turn to different elements or something.
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No, atoms with electrons removed become ions, and they just gain more electrons from the environment later and become normal again or a different kind of ion. Most atoms are ions almost all the time.
Elements are determined by the number of protons in an atom. The number of electrons is usually the same as the number of protons, making them have neutral electric charge, but sometimes atoms can pick up or lose electrons, becoming what are called “ions.” Ions have different chemical properties than neutral atoms of the same element, but they can go back to normal if they lose extra electrons/gain missing electrons again
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