Triboelectric effect; what you need to know and why you should care.
Entry posted by HegelBot153
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The triboelectric effect manifests from frictional contact between materials resulting in contact electrification but why? Why are things like this? Why do we live? Why do we die? But anyways here the things we have to know. People have been using this effect like a play thing, charging objects to repel another or zapping frogs apparently (thank you) and I believe it was quite important to our discovery of electromagnetism, especially in the ancient world. If your childhood was at all interesting, you have tried building some sort of potential difference on your person by sliding around on a rug and feeling the power crackle at your fingertips, jolting some poor door knob or family member. That visible stroke of electricity, the spark, indicates to us that there was some level of discharge and depending on the conductivity of the air, it becomes easier to achieve. So when two materials contact they may make a small amount of chemical bonds where one is more likely to receive a negative charge and the other a positive charge due to the inter-molecular forces at play, this is the triboelectric effect. Now that there is some polarity, potential difference is developed and this discovery has had quite an effect in the advancement of the field of physics. Join me for part two: The Leyden Jar in this series.
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