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ShizukaSm
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If I have a charged object in contact with normal air (but nothing else) and insulated, does it lose charge over time? Does the answer depend on the object being an conductor or an insulator itself?
cepheid said:I think the answer is typically no. In order for the object to discharge, the charges would have to travel across a very large air gap, a process that is called arcing. Air is a very poor conductor of electricity, so this just doesn't happen unless if you have a tremendous amount of static charge built up, as is the case for lightning. In order for arcing to occur, you have to have enough voltage to ionize the surrounding air, which creates a conductive pathway.
ShizukaSm said:Thanks. I happen to be aware of arcing, but I was thinking of something less drastic, and I'm actually speaking about a realistic situation. Could somehow the particles in air slowly discharge my object?
In short, I want to know if I go to a lab tomorrow and perform this experiment (charging a sphere and connecting it through a long insulator to the ground), I can return a week later and find the same charge.
Of course, I don't have a lab so I can't actually test that.
An electrically charged object is an object that has an excess or deficiency of electrons, causing it to have a net positive or negative charge.
Objects can become electrically charged through a process called charging, where electrons are either added or removed from the object.
Positive charges are caused by an excess of protons, while negative charges are caused by an excess of electrons. Opposite charges attract each other, while like charges repel.
Yes, electrically charged objects can affect each other's behavior through the force of attraction or repulsion between opposite or like charges.
Electrically charged objects can induce a temporary charge in non-charged objects through a process called induction. This can cause the non-charged object to either attract or repel the charged object.