http://www.ck12.org Chapter 23. Electricity
23.1 Electric Charge
Lesson Objectives
- Define electric charge and electric force.
- Describe electric fields.
- Identify ways that electric charge is transferred.
Lesson Vocabulary
- electric charge
- electric field
- electric force
- law of conservation of charge
- static discharge
- static electricity
Introduction
Has this ever happened to you? You walk across a carpet, reach out to touch a metal doorknob, and get an unpleasant
electric shock (seeFigure23.1). The reason you get a shock is because of moving electric charges. Moving electric
charges also create lightning bolts and the electric current that flows through cables and wires.
FIGURE 23.1
Moving electric charges explain why you
get a shock when you touch a doorknob
after walking across a carpet.