Everything Science Grade 10

CHAPTER 16. ELECTROSTATICS 16.2

Aluminium

photos/Aluminium_wikimedia.jpg

Photograph on wikimedia

This tribo-electric series can allow
us to determine whether one mate-
rial is likely to become charged from
another material.
Materials from the more positive
end of the series are more likely to
lose electrons than those from the
more negative end. So when two
materials are chosen and rubbed
together the one that is more posi-
tive in the series will lose electrons
and the one that is more negative
in the series will gain electrons. For
example, amber is more negative
than wool and so if a piece of
wool is rubbed against a piece of
amber then the amber will become
negatively charged.

Silicon

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Photograph on wikimedia

Material Tribo-electric series

Glass Very positive

Human hair

Nylon

Wool

Fur

Lead

Silk

Aluminium

Paper

Cotton

Steel

Wood

Amber

Hard rubber

Nickel, Copper

Gold, Platinum

Polyester

Polyurethane

Polypropylene

Silicon

Teflon Very negative

Table 16.1: Tribo-electric series.

Force between charges ESAET

The force exerted by non-moving (static) charges on each other is called theelectrostatic
force.The electrostatic force between:

Physics: Electricity and Magnetism 263