- As you may know, matter is made of atoms. Atoms have a nucleus, which is made up of protons (positive) and neutrons (neutral), and electrons (negative). Opposite charges are attracted to one another with a inverse square force, and like charges are similarly repelled.
- The 1electrons in conductors are able to move freely, while in insulators they cannot unless they come off entirely
- Some materials tend to give off electrons (e.g. fur) and some tend to attract them (e.g. plastic)
- Not all metals are conductors
- A neutral object can be attracted to a charged object via induced polarity. In a conductor, this means the electrons move through the entire object to create a dipole. In an insulator, the electrons of the atoms realign to create billions of on tiny dipoles. This makes a difference due to the inverse square law, which will be discussed further later. The former creates a strong attraction, while the latter creates a weak attraction.
See Also
Footnotes
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Not all of the electrons in a conductor can move, it’s just that the ones that don’t move can be ignored because they do not contribute to the net charge of a material ↩