Whenever electrons are transferred between objects, neutral matter becomes charged. For example, when atoms lose or gain electrons they become charged particles called ions. Three ways electrons can be transferred are conduction, friction, and polarization. In each case, the total charge remains the same.

The quantity of charge on an object reflects the amount of imbalance between electrons and protons on that object. Thus, to determine the total charge of a positively charged object (an object with an excess of protons), one must subtract the total number of electrons from the total number of protons.

When we put a charged object near an uncharged object, it produces opposite charges in the near end of the uncharged object by electric induction.

Grounding is the process of removing the excess charge on an object by means of the transfer of electrons between it and another object of substantial size. When a charged object is grounded, the excess charge is balanced by the transfer of electrons between the charged object and a ground.

A grounded object is something that has a direct conductive path to the earth, such as a water pipe, wall, or wood table. When working with computers, the most ideal way to ground yourself is to touch the exterior metal box of your computer’s power supply before unplugging the machine.

When a charged object is grounded, the excess charge is balanced by the transfer of electrons between the charged object and a ground. So whenever you touch any charged object then your body acts as a path to the flow of charge from excessively charged object to ground, thus charged object becomes neutral after that.

Put a positively charged object close to one without charge, it will remain neutral. Now ground the neutral object, it will acquire a negative charge. Or you can view it as the positive charge attracting negative charge from the ground.

The rather surprising answer is that ALL macroscopic objects will have at least a small electrical charge. For an object to be truly neutral, the number of positive charges (protons) and negative charges (electrons) in the object must be exactly the same.

Generally, most of the objects we come across are neutral. That is, they have a total charge of zero. By rubbing a neutral object, it can be charged frictionally. If left to itself then in a short span of time it will again attain neutrality by interacting with the surroundings.

Uncharged objects: In spite of what the standard says, an uncharged object will not be attracted or repelled from a charged object. Instead, the charged object will cause the uncharged object to become charged, with a positive charge on one side and a negative charge on the other side. This process is called induction.