Chapter 17, Problem 62RPP

Static cling You pull your clothes from the dryer and find that they stick together. You take off your coat and find that your pants stick to your legs. Static cling tike this can occur tor two reasons. First afferent types of atoms have greater or lesser activity for additional electrons. When two different magentas are rubbed together, the atoms with a greater electron affinity attract electrons from the maternal wen a lesser electron affinity Because of this the substance that gams electrons becomes negativity charged and the substance that loses electrons becomes positivity charged. The different charged materials attract and stick together.

Second static cling can occur Between charged and uncharged objects. For instance, you may notice that a sock removed from the dryer is attracted to an uncharged sweater you are wearing. Or sometimes your skirt sticks to your legs. This happens because me molecules in a charged piece of clothing cause the electric charge inside the molecules of the nearby uncharged objects to slightly redistribute (to become polarized) so that me unlike charge of me molecule moves closer to the charged object and is attracted more than me same molecular charge of the same sing, which is slightly farther away (see Figures 17.9b and c).

Some people use fabric softener to prevent static cling. This product coats cloth firers with a thin layer of electrically conductive molecules, thus preventing buildup of static electricity. you can also use a metal domes hanger to remove electric charge from already clean charged domes Brush the hanger on the inside of me garment from top to bottom.

Shoes scuffing on different surfaces can also cause electric charge transfer. For that reason, hospital personnel wear special shoes in hospital operating rooms to avoid sparking that might ignite flammable gases in the room.

You remove electric charge from your clean pants by rubbing a metal clothes hanger down the inside of the pants. Which answer below represents the best explanation for why this works?

a. The charge travels from the cloth to the metal to your hand through your body to the ground.

b. The metal hanger absorbs all the charge.

c. The metal causes tiny sparks that send the charge into the air.

d. The metal provides charge to the cloth that neutralizes its charge.

e. None of these answers is reasonable.