What is Electrostatics?
{{Electromagnetism}} '''Electrostatics''' (also known as ''static electricity'') is the branch of [[physics]] that deals with apparently stationary [[electric charge]]s. Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces. Although charge exchange happens whenever any two surfaces contact and separate, the effects of charge exchange are usually only noticed when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. This is because the charges that transfer to or from the highly resistive surface are more or less trapped there for a long enough time for their effects to be observed. These charges then remain on the object until they either bleed off to the ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge: e.g., the familiar phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge built up in the body from contact with [[Conduction|non-conductive]] surfaces. == Examples == * The attraction of plastic wrap to ones hand when one has removed it from a package. * Spontaneous [[explosion]] of [[grain]] silos. * Damage of electronic components during manufacturing or the operation of [[photocopier]]s. ==Related pages== *[[Electromagnetism]] *[[Ionic bond]] *[[Lightning]] *[[Luigi Galvani]] ==References== {{reflist}} *{{cite book |author=Faraday, Michael |title=Experimental Researches in Electricity |location=London |publisher=Royal Inst |year=1839}}{{gutenberg|no=14986|name=e-book}} *{{cite book |author=Halliday, David; Robert Resnick; Kenneth S. Krane |title=Physics | location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=1992 |isbn=0-471-80457-6}} *{{cite book |author=[[David J. Griffiths|Griffiths, David J.]] |title=Introduction to Electrodynamics |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=1999 |isbn=0-13-805326-X}} *{{cite book |author=Hermann A. Haus and James R. Melcher |title=Electromagnetic Fields and Energy |url=https://archive.org/details/electromagneticf0000haus |location=Englewood Clif