Grade 8 - Static Electricity

Static electricity is the build-up of electric charge on the surface of an object. it does not flow like in an electric circuit. The charges stay still, and static means still. This is why it got the name static electricity.
When you rub certain materials together, they get electric charge, this is friction. Friction is the force caused by rubbing things together. The friction between certain materials make the electrons move from the atoms of one material to the atoms of another material. It is only the electrons that can be transferred to an atom or lost from an atom.
The more electrons in an atom means there are more-negatively charged particles than positively charged particles. So it has an overall negative charge. This also means that removing electrons in one atom will have more protons and fewer electrons. So then the atom has an overall positive charge. The charge will either attract or repel the object.