Static electricity

Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charge on or within a material. It can produce attraction, repulsion, or a spark when charge moves.

Electric charge: A physical property of matter that produces electrical forces and interactions. Static electricity is an imbalance between positive and negative electric charge.
Conductor (electricity): A material in which electric charge moves relatively freely. Unlike insulators, conductors let excess charge redistribute across their surfaces.
Photocopier: A machine that uses electrostatic charge patterns to transfer toner onto paper. Its image-forming process deliberately controls static charge on a drum.
Electric current: The rate at which electric charge flows through a surface or circuit. Static electricity concerns charge imbalance; current describes charge moving continuously.
Triboelectric effect: The transfer of charge between materials that contact and then separate. Contact and separation can leave the materials with opposite static charges.
Electrical insulator: A material that strongly resists the movement of electric charge. Insulators can retain localized static charge instead of letting it flow away.
Electrostatic precipitator: A device that removes particles from gas by electrically charging and collecting them. It uses electrostatic attraction to capture dust and smoke from exhaust.
Alternating current: Electric current that periodically reverses direction. Its sustained, reversing flow differs from charge stored at rest.
Electrostatic induction: The redistribution of electric charge in a material caused by a nearby electric field. A charged object can attract neutral matter by shifting its charges without touching it.
Electric polarization: The separation or alignment of positive and negative charge within a material. Polarization explains attraction between charged objects and otherwise neutral materials.

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