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ELECTRICITY - WHAT A SHOCK!
ROMEO PROTON AND JULIET ELECTRON: A STATIC STORY 3050-0503
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Have you ever walked across the carpet and then touched a friend? What happened? Sometimes nothing and other times you may have received (or given) a small electrical shock. We called this shock static electricity or the story of Romeo proton and Juliet electron. Static electricity is caused by a buildup of charges. Electrons sometimes can move from one atom to another. Since electrons have negative charges, the material that has extra electrons has a negative charge. The material that lost the electrons becomes positively charged because it now has more protons. When you walk across a carpeted room, you pick up extra electrons (Juliets). |
| When you extend your finger to touch someone, the extra electrons on you cause the electrons on the other person to move away from your finger. If the electrons move away, guess what? The other person now has a positive charge (Romeos) and all those extra electrons on you become attracted to the area on the other person that has the positive charge. Is all this making sense so far? Well these little lovebird Juliet electrons aren't just going to sit there looking stupid. When they see the little Romeo protons on your friend, they are going to run over to the protons. And presto! We have a small electric shock called static electricity! |
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DO IT! Click on the lightening storm to the left to learn more about static electricity. Answer the following questions. 1. What is a lightening rod and how is it used? 2. How can static electricity be used to help the environment? |
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Created August 10, 1999 by Kathleen Ochsenbein
