Electrostatic induction

Electrostatic induction is the redistribution of electric charge within a material caused by a nearby charge, without direct contact. It can polarize an insulator or separate charge in a conductor.

Electric field: A physical field that assigns an electric force to each point in space. The nearby charge’s field drives the redistribution inside the material.
Electric charge: A property of matter that produces electric interactions and comes in positive and negative forms. Induction rearranges existing charge; it does not require charge to cross the gap.
Van de Graaff generator: An electrostatic generator that transports charge on a moving belt to a hollow terminal. Its charged terminal induces charge separation in nearby objects during demonstrations.
Charging by friction: The transfer of electrons between materials rubbed together. Frictional charging involves contact, unlike induction across a gap.
Electric polarization: The separation or alignment of positive and negative charge within matter. Insulators respond to induction mainly by shifting or aligning bound charges.
Conductor: A material in which electric charge can move freely over macroscopic distances. Mobile charges separate across a conductor when an external charge approaches.
Electroscope: An instrument that detects electric charge through the motion of a lightweight conductor. A charged object can make its leaves diverge by inducing charge separation.
Charging by contact: The transfer of electric charge when charged and neutral objects touch. Contact charging transfers charge directly; induction can act without touching.
Electrostatic equilibrium: A state in which charges at rest produce no net electric force on one another. In a conductor, mobile charges settle until the internal field vanishes.
Electrical insulator: A material in which electric charge does not move freely through the bulk. An insulator usually polarizes locally rather than separating charge across its body.

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