What happens when you rub and ebonite stick with a wool cloth?
Electrons from the wool cloth are transferred to the ebonite and the ebonite acquires a negative charge.
When you rub an ebonite stick with a wool cloth, a phenomenon called triboelectric charging occurs. Triboelectric charging is the process of generating static electricity by friction between two different materials.
To understand what happens when you rub an ebonite stick with a wool cloth, we need to consider their respective triboelectric properties. Ebonite, also known as hard rubber, has a relatively high affinity for electrons, while wool has a relatively low affinity for electrons.
When you rub the ebonite stick with the wool cloth, some of the electrons from the wool are transferred to the ebonite. This happens because the ebonite's higher affinity for electrons allows it to pull electrons away from the wool, which has a lower affinity for electrons. As a result, the ebonite becomes negatively charged, as it gains excess electrons, and the wool becomes positively charged, as it loses electrons.
This charge separation creates an imbalance of electric charges between the ebonite stick and the wool cloth. These opposite charges attract each other and create an electrostatic force. If you bring the ebonite stick close to small lightweight objects, such as pieces of paper or hair, these objects will be attracted to the ebonite due to the electrostatic force.
So, when you rub an ebonite stick with a wool cloth, the ebonite gains a negative charge, and the wool gains a positive charge, resulting in static electricity and the potential to attract lightweight objects.