We have electromagnetism to thank for a lot of different things,
from like allowing you to watch youtube videos
on a computer that is powered by electricity
and holding all of the atoms in the universe together
but electromagnetism as the name implies takes two forms that look totally different to us
we have the electrostatic force and the magnetic force..but don't be fooled
the electricity and magnetism are the same freekin' thing.
Weird i know but since this is my show and i can do what i want,i'm gonna break this up into two episodes.
One on electrostatics and one on magnetism.
First electrostatics..
the cause of lightning and balloon sticking to me.. :)
As you probably know,electromagnetic force acts on objects that have electric charge
and electrostatics they are described as either being positive or negative.
Objects with opposite charges produce an attractive force between them.Well, objects with the same charge produce a repulsive force.
The greater the charge is the greater the force and the greater the distance between the charged objects,
the smaller the force.
All this was laid nice and simple by french physicist CHARLES AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB.
In what we now today call 'Coulomb's Law'!
Coulomb's law is able to describe how protons in an atomic neucleus which are positive keep negatively charged
electrons from just wandering off
And just like with other fundamental forces of physics there is a special particle that
conveys this force.Here,you've actually heard of the particle
its called a photon.Photons carry the electrostatic force between the electron and the proton.
Photons are the same particle that carry light and heat which is why electromagnetic force is able to travel at
the speed of light.
Now,electrostatic force is called static because it can build up in an object creating a ton of
potential energy that is just dying to move some place.
Take this balloon for example and my wool sweater they are both made up of atoms as you might imagine
and atoms normally have the same number of electrons and protons.
So they're electrically neutral.But some substances tend to take on electrons really easily
like rubber.While others tend to give them up,like wool.
When substances with these opposite tendencies come in contact the electron
from the atoms of one substance jump into the atoms of the other.So,when i rub the balloon on my sweater
The balloon gains electrons becoming negatively charged and my sweater looses electrons mak-
-ing positive.Now,it may look like the friction of me rubbing this is causing the charge but
that's not true.Rubbing is just putting the atoms into contact over and over again making it more likely that
they'll swap electrons.
The more they swap the more charge gathers in one place and the two oppositely charged objects cling
Together! :D
They are effectively just sharing electrons when they touch.The same thing is going on with lightning
electrostatic force builds up in rain clouds as they rub together.Once enough of electrons are built up in the
clouds,they need to go some place that has a bunch of protons to neutralize them
so, the atoms in the air basically serves the path to deliver these built up electrons through the sky
from their negatively charged source,the clouds to their positively charged destination whether its the ground,
another cloud or some really unlucky person..! :P
So,electricity is just a stream of electrons trying to get from a negative place to a positive place
and isn't that what we're all trying to do really?!
The crazy thing is that once electricity starts flowing like this it creates,a magnetic field and what??
But that is why next time we're gonna be talking about the magnetism portion of electromagnetism
Thank You for watching this episode of SCI-SHOW!
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