The discussion focuses on the behavior of excess electrons in charged objects and the mechanisms behind charging through contact, specifically referencing the triboelectric effect. When insulating materials, such as a comb and cloth, are rubbed together, surface molecules gain or lose electrons, resulting in charge accumulation. Conductors also exhibit similar behavior, where charge migrates to the surface due to mutual repulsion. The conversation highlights the misconception that electrons prefer neutrality, emphasizing that charge transfer is a fundamental aspect of material interactions.
PREREQUISITESStudents of physics, educators teaching electrostatics, and professionals in materials science or electrical engineering will benefit from this discussion.
If that were the case,there would not have been any ionic compounds formed!Scheuerf said:I would think that the electrons would prefer to keep both objects neutral.
Usually an object (especially one made of insulating material) acquires a charge by contact with other materials (as when a comb is rubbed with a pice of cloth). It's therefore usually (a very small fraction of) molecules on the surface which gain or lose electrons (usually only one electron on anyone affected molecule). Conductors can also be charged. Again it is surface atoms or molecules which have the extra electron or are missing the electron. This time, though, the reason is rather different. Even if charge were to be deposited inside the object, it would migrate to the surface, essentially because of mutual repulsion.Scheuerf said:When an object has excess electrons and is charged where are they?
A conductor loves to do just that, the electrons are merely the means. It seems to me you think of a charged mass like a battery, with cells full of electrons bouncing around ready to go to work. In concept it is the same, but in static situations where Faraday pioneered, a use for the energy needs to exist, i.e. ground short, to induce a flow. The inspiring fact of the day to remember is that the energy has more tendency to stay where it is at as an electron at rest, than it does to move with relativistic but otherwise known as invariant mass, that would vacate its premises.Scheuerf said:I would think that the electrons would prefer to keep both objects neutral.
jerromyjon said:A conductor loves to do just that, the electrons are merely the means. It seems to me you think of a charged mass like a battery, with cells full of electrons bouncing around ready to go to work. In concept it is the same, but in static situations where Faraday pioneered, a use for the energy needs to exist, i.e. ground short, to induce a flow. The inspiring fact of the day to remember is that the energy has more tendency to stay where it is at as an electron at rest, than it does to move with relativistic but otherwise known as invariant mass, that would vacate its premises.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effectScheuerf said:Also when two neutrally charged objects are rubbed together why do they both become charged? I would think that the electrons would prefer to keep both objects neutral.