In this topic you will learn about static electricity.

What is electricity? It runs through wires that you plug into the wall. However, electricity affects things without wires. If a balloon is rubbed on wool, negative charges collect on the balloon. This makes the balloon negative. Now the balloon is attracted to positive things. The balloon can stick to something like a wall. The type of electricity that causes balloons to stick is called static electricity. Static electricity is a buildup of electrical charge. When the buildup of negative charge on a balloon becomes strong enough, it will attract positively-charged particles in a wall.

Static electricity can build up enough to form a lightning bolt. Inside a thundercloud, water and ice particles rub together. The positive and negative charges separate. The bottom of the cloud, which is negatively charged, becomes positively charged by the positively charged ground below. Charges jump the gap between the cloud and the ground as a lightning bolt.

Lightning gives off energy in the form of light, heat, sound, or electrical energy. Lightning targets the clearest, shortest path to the ground. A metal lightning rod safely discharges lightning into the ground.

Lightning is a dangerous form of static electricity. Follow these simple rules if you see or suspect lightning: 1) stay away from trees or other tall objects; 2) stay away from high places, like the top of a hill; 3) get out of water; and 4) don't use the telephone.

Electric charges can move through certain materials. When you walk on a rug, static electricity builds up on your shoes. The charge keeps building until you touch something, then it suddenly empties, or discharges, into the object. You might feel a small shock. The shocks you feel when you touch objects such as doorknobs or other people are small discharges.

Static electricity does not discharge into all types of materials. Electricity can easily flow through materials that are conductors. Metal is a good conductor. An insulator is a material through which electricity does not flow. Wood, air, and rubber are insulators.