Electrical Charges

Part 1

Charging by Conduction

By: Hasna

Charging by Conduction

Charging by conduction, or sometimes called as charging by contact is when a charged object is moved or transferred to a neutral object that already has an electric charge, which involves a physical connection. The charging by conduction can be divided into two factors, whether it’s to use the negatively charged object or positively charged object.

Charging by Conduction – Negatively Charged Object

When two charges have opposite charges, or when it is neutral, they attract to one another. Meanwhile when they have the same charge, it is when both charges repel from each other. Charging by conduction using negatively charged object means that when a neutral object meets a negatively charged object, the neutral object will directly be converted to a negatively charged object. Why? Because a negatively charged object has a numerous quantity of electrons, which needs a huge space, therefore they repel. The electrons consider one another revolting, so they spread away from each other as far as possible. The object becomes a negatively charged object because as the two objects touch each other, the electrons move to the neutral object.

Charging by Conduction – Positively Charged Object

If a negatively charged object meets a neutral object, both object will be negatively charged due to the electrons moving from the negatively charged object onto the neutral object, what about charging by conduction using a positively charged object? A positively charged object and a negatively charged object are way two different charges. Unlike the negatively charged object, the positively charged object has a scarcity of electrons. But instead, it has a great amount of protons. However, the proton is way more chained to the nucleus of an atom than the electron, so it is impossible to leave the atom. Therefore if there is a conducting trail made between electrons and proton, it is more possible for electrons to take the trail, because the electrons are placed outside of the nucleus. And so when a positively charged object meets a neutral object, the electrons of the neutral object move to the positively charged object. The electrons from the neutral object decrease, therefore it becomes positive.