Term | Definition |
Acetate | A type of plastic used in photogenic film and overhead transparencies |
Action-at-a-distance forces | Forces that can have an effect on an object without touching it |
Charging by conduction | Process of transferring charge between objects by touching or rubbing |
Charging by induction | Process of rearranging electrons on a neutral object by bringing a charged object close to it |
Conductors | Materials that allow electrons to move freely on and through them |
Contact forces | Forces that have an effect only on objects that they touch |
Coulomb | The unit of electric charge, named after the French physicist Charles Coulomb; one coulomb is the amount of charge passing a point in one second when one ampere of current is flowing |
Electric force | A push or pull between charged objects |
Electrons | Negatively charges particles surrounding the atomic nucleus |
Force | A push or a pull exerted on an object |
Grounding | Connecting a conductor so that electric charge flows into Earth's surface |
Insulators | Materials such as glass, plastics, ceramics, and dry wood that do not allow electrons to move easily on or through them |
Laws of static charge | Physical laws that state that like charges repel, opposite charges attract, and neutral objects and charged objects attract eachother |
Static charge | An electric charge that can be collected and held very nearly fixed in one place |
Van de Graaff generator | A device that uses friction to produce a large static charge on a metal dome |