static electricity

Hi everyone!

I've been learning about static electricity and it says in my textbook that charges do not move. However, the book also says that electrons are transferred when two insulators are rubbed together. It further says that charges only move where there is a spark.

I am very confused because doesn't static indicate that the charges are fixed in position?

Please help!

A spark is the transfer of static charge. Protons (positvely charged) in the nuclei of atoms are considered to be fixed in position, the electrons (negatively charged)
It is called static due to the non-moving positive charges that cannot correct the electron deficiency/surplus.

Can you please explain this.
Btw, thanks for the reply.

what he means is static is a term which describes the build up of charge in/on an object.

For example, a sheet of solid plastic has all of its atoms bound tightly together. I.e. The protons and neutrons of the atoms nucleus are fixed in position relative to each other.

However the electrons are not so tightly bound to the nucleus and can be dislodged. When this happens, any movement of electrons produces a current.

So the term static electricity really defines the build up of either a net +ve or -ve charge in an object when it really wants to be neutral.

The spark is a flow of electrons (current) because the charges want to balance out and are attracted to opposite charges on a different nearby object. If the two objects are brought close enough together, electrons jumo the gap in a spark.

The current (spark) stops when there are no more electrons free to jump across, or, the charges become balanced - whichever happens first. At which point the spark and current are gone.

Static comes from the latin word staticus which means 'causing to stand'.

Hence static electricity really means a standing electric charge.