3.6 Applications of Electrostatics

Static electricity has several uses, also called applications, in the real world. One main use is in printers and photocopiers where static electric charges attract the ink, or toner, to the paper. Other uses include paint sprayers, air filters, and dust removal. Static electricity can also cause damage.

Light, X- rays, radio waves, microwaves etc. contains electric field component’s in it. There is an external electric field in a current carrying conductor. Electric fields are generated by charges and charge configurations such as capacitors.

Coulomb’s Law has a great many applications to modern life, from Xerox machines to laser printers, to powder coating. The ancient peoples living around the Mediterranean Sea knew that if they rubbed a rod of amber on a cat’s fur, the rod would attract light objects, such as feathers.

47 Applications of Electrostatics

• The Van de Graaff Generator.
• Xerography.
• Laser Printers.
• Ink Jet Printers and Electrostatic Painting.
• Smoke Precipitators and Electrostatic Air Cleaning.

• The Van de Graaff Generator.
• Xerography.
• Laser Printers.
• Ink Jet Printers and Electrostatic Painting.
• Smoke Precipitators and Electrostatic Air Cleaning.

Static electricity deals with phenomena due to attractions or repulsions of electric charges. The presence of electrical charge manifests itself in forces between charged bodies. Every conductive object isolated from earth constitutes a capacitance and quantifies the ability of a system to store electrostatic charge.

No charges are created or destroyed; they are just transferred. The objects then have a net charge and electrical forces come into play. Electric charge forms the basis of the electrical and magnetic forces that are so important in our modern electrical and electronic luxuries.

Static electricity can be created by rubbing one object against another object. This is because the rubbing releases negative charges, called electrons, which can build up on one object to produce a static charge.

Things that have the same charge push each other away (they repel each other). This is called the Law of Charges. Things that have more electrons than protons are negatively charged, while things with fewer electrons than protons are positively charged. Things with the same charge repel each other.

When two bodies are rubbed with each other then electrons are transferred to that body whose work function is low. The body which loses electrons is charged positively due to the loss of negative charge i.e. Electrons. On the other hand the body that gains electrons gets negative charge.

n. electrostatic charge, negative charge, positive charge.

Units of potential difference are joules per coulomb, given the name volt (V) after Alessandro Volta. The familiar term voltage is the common name for electric potential difference.

second

The seven SI base units, which are comprised of:

• Length – meter (m)
• Time – second (s)
• Amount of substance – mole (mole)
• Electric current – ampere (A)
• Temperature – kelvin (K)
• Luminous intensity – candela (cd)
• Mass – kilogram (kg)

Second, fundamental unit of time, now defined in terms of the radiation frequency at which atoms of the element cesium change from one state to another. The second was formerly defined as 1/86,400 of the mean solar day—i.e., the average period of rotation of the Earth on its axis relative to the Sun.

Zeptosecond

Definition. The second is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the caesium frequency ∆ν, the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium 133 atom, to be 9 192 631 770 when expressed in the unit Hz, which is equal to s−1. The wording of the definition was updated in 2019.