Quote:
Originally Posted by id10t
So I had a few bourbons last night....
And got to thinking.... How is static electricity and the attraction between the legs of my flannel house pants similar and/or different from magnetism?
And this morning, now that I am sober... I'm still pondering it.
So I know magnets work due to how the individual atoms are aligned in the matrix of the metal. You can "unmake" an iron magnet by simply getting it hot enough to loosen that matrix structure and letting the molecules rearrange themselves naturally.
But what about the attraction properties seen with static electricity? The legs of my pants, a balloon and the hairs on your arms, etc. Obviously no matrix structure, tons of various elements and compounds together so electron counts and valences should all balance properly, etc.
Help an id10t out. But try to make it so I can understand w/o drinking more bourbon.
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electric charge is a property of all matter
electric charge comes in 2 flavors, positive(+) and negative(-)
+ and - attract by the exchange of photons
+ and + repel by the same mechanism
- and - repel by same mechanism
most commonly in our normal environment positive charges are carried by protons, negative by electrons
when ever an electric charge moves there is an associated magnetic field,
Electrons can exist in free unbound states moving through space or moving through conductive matter or in bound states in association w/ the nucleus of an atom the bound electrons also spin which also generates a magnetic couple, All electrons thus generate a magnetic couple at all times, whether bound or unbound.
The electricity in the wires of the grid consists of free electrons moving through the wires which also generate a magnetic field.
static electricity is just the accumulation of extra free electrons on a particular piece of matter, could be your pants or could be a cloud, a redistribution of the excess electrons is the shock or a clap of thunder, same thing different scale
Protons in our normal environment exist mainly in bound states in the nucleus of atoms along w/ electrically neutral Neutrons, The only unbound proton state is the isotope of Hydrogen which only has a single proton in it's nucleus, as all other nuclei contain various #s of Protons and Neutrons, Deuterium is another isotope of Hydrogen, but w/ 1P and 1N, tritium, is 1P and 2N
The number of Protons in the nucleus determines what element it is, Helium has 2P, Lithium 3P
rarely will you encounter a flow of moving Protons unless you happen to have a Tokamak in your house