The Electrical Nature of Matter

Matter Matter – anything that takes up space and has mass Matter is made of atoms which have 3 parts Protons - _______ charge, located ________ Neutrons - _______ charge, located _________ Electrons - ______ charge, located _________

Atoms The basic structure of an atom has a centre (nucleus) with electrons around the outside…

Atoms…

Matter Matter – anything that takes up space and has mass Matter is made of atoms which have 3 parts Protons - + charge, located in the nucleus Neutrons - 0 charge, located in the nucleus Electrons - - charge, located around the outside ONLY ELECTRONS MOVE IN ELECTRICITY – small and around the outside of an atom!

In some elements like copper, electrons can move more freely = good conductors In other elements like sulphur electrons are held strongly = insulators

Which are good conductors? Wooden block Plastic water bottle Metal fork

Insulators and Conductors

Law of Electric Charges Like charges repel one another, and unlike charge attract one another

“Opposites Attract”  OR  BUT……..

Observation - When 2 charged objects come closer together the attraction or repulsion increases (opposite for when they are moved further apart) Charles-Augustin de Coulomb

Static Electricity a charge on a substance that stays in the same place (static = not moving) electric charges: + and – stay in place If more e - than p + build up then the object becomes _________ charged. If less e - than p + build up then the object becomes __________ charged.

Static Electricity NeutralPositiveNegative