electric fields (TRIPLE)

• Static electricity


  Occurs when an insulator gains or loses electrons, becoming negatively or positively charged respectively
• Charged objects


  • Objects carrying opposite charges attract
  • Objects carrying the same type of charge repel
• Non-contact force


  The force of attraction or repulsion between charged objects that are not touching
• Hair standing on end when touching a Van de Graaff generator

  1. Each hair becomes positively charged

  2. The hairs repel each other and move apart
• Electric field


  The area around a charged object where a force would be experienced by another charged object
• Electric field lines


  • Must be perpendicular to the surface of the charged object
  • The arrows show the direction of force on a positive object
• Decreasing the distance between a charged object and another object


  The force between them gets stronger