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Static Electricity: Concept Map

≈ 24 min
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Concept Map

Organise the vocabulary, quantities and relationships into a connected model.

This extension applies that lens specifically to Static Electricity.

All matter contains electric charge: positive charge and negative charge. Normally an object has equal amounts of each, so it is neutral — the charges cancel out and you notice nothing.

When two different materials are rubbed together, tiny negatively charged particles (electrons) are transferred from one to the other:

  • The material that gains electrons becomes negatively charged.
  • The material that loses electrons is left positively charged.

Charge that stays where it is put — usually on an insulator such as plastic or wool — is called static electricity. "Static" means stationary.

The rules of charge:

ChargesEffect
Two positivesRepel
Two negativesRepel
One positive and one negativeAttract

In short: like charges repel, unlike charges attract.

Worked example. A plastic ruler is rubbed on a woollen jersey and then held just above small torn pieces of paper. The paper jumps up and sticks to the ruler. But the paper was never rubbed — so how can it be attracted?

  1. Rubbing transfers electrons from the wool onto the ruler, so the ruler is negatively charged.
  2. The paper is neutral overall, but its charges can shift slightly. The ruler's negative charge pushes the paper's negative charges to the far side of each piece.
  3. That leaves the near side of the paper slightly positive.
  4. Positive near side + negative ruler = attraction, and the paper is light enough to lift.

This is why a charged object attracts neutral objects too — a detail most people miss.

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: Two balloons are both rubbed on the same learner's hair and then hung on strings next to each other. What will they do?

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: What is transferred from one material to the other when a plastic rod is rubbed with a cloth?

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: During rubbing, a glass rod loses electrons to a silk cloth. What is the charge on the glass rod afterwards?

Name the original topic being extended by this concept map lesson.

Which statement is the best evidence-led starting point for Static Electricity: Concept Map?