Page 111 - York Global Science 6 - Physical Science

Physical Science

Let’s Learn

before rubbing

after rubbing

Think!
You know that static electricity is a build-up of charge on the surface of

an insulator, but what happens when a large number of electrons are
transferred to a conductor?

A conductor lets electrons move easily from atom

to atom. This means that when there are a lot of
electrons in one place, they repel each other and
move away until the charge is the same everywhere.

If a conductor is a regular shape, it is easy for the
electric charge to move and be evenly arranged.
However, a conductor that has corners, or is more
pointed at one end, may have an uneven charge

because more charges collect in these parts of the
conductor.
This means that there is more chance that the electric charge will be

discharged at the pointed end of an irregular shape. This is because the
potential difference between the pointed end of a conductor and another
object will be greater.

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