Static Electricity-Your Dryer's Best Friend

Static Electricity is a collection of electrical energy (charge) in one spot. Have you ever received a little shock? If you put on your shoes and drag your feet across the carpet on a very dry day, then touch the doorknob, you might see, hear and feel the discharge of static electricity. You see the electricity as a tiny flash of light, you hear the sound of crackling, and you feel a slight shock. Even more powerful, a lightning bolt is an example of the discharge, or movement, of static electricity.

You can collect static electricity in one spot by moving electrons around. Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your head and then your hair stuck to the balloon? Have you rubbed a plastic comb with a wool sweater and then picked up puffed rice or tissue paper with the comb? Have you ever taken the laundry out of the dryer and your socks were stuck to your shirts and they crackled when you pulled them away?

Objects charged with static electricity can attract or repel other objects. Attract means to draw together. Repel means to push apart. Opposite charges attract and like charges repel.

When you rubbed the balloon on your head some of the electrons moved around and your hair became positively charged and the balloon became negatively charged. Those were opposite charges so the balloon and your hair attracted each other. The comb had a different charge than the puffed rice so the comb and the puffed rice attracted each other. I’ll bet you never knew that your shirts and your socks were moving electrons around in the dryer till they became attracted to each other!

Static electricity is a form of energy. Static electricity is a build up of electrical charge in one spot, until it moves or is discharged. Sometimes, you can see, hear and feel static electricity when it is discharged. Lightning is a powerful form of static electricity.