All subatomic particles have intrinsic physical properties, such as mass, spin and charge. Charge is what comes into play when we talk about static shocks. It is either positive or negative. Each ...

The rubbed part of the balloon now has a negative charge. Objects made of rubber, such as the balloon, are electrical insulators, meaning that they resist electric charges flowing through them.

So as you can see, I'm getting minus 11 millivolts, which means that this object is negatively charged. All right, so let's do the crazy balloon experiment again.

Since objects can be positively or negatively charged, "q" can have both positive and negative values. For example, one electron has a charge of negative 1.6 times 10 to the negative 19th Coulombs.

Protons have a positive charge. Electrons have a negative charge. The charge on the proton and electron are exactly the same size but opposite. Neutrons have no charge. Since opposite charges attract, ...

Then, we basically become a magnet when we touch a negatively charged object or animal, and we feel the electric shock. This bolt of energy is more likely to happen in the winter because the air ...

We have discovered legions of strange particles that seem to only have a ghostly existence inside materials. Even so, they ...

Then, we basically become a magnet when we touch a negatively charged object, or animal, and we feel the electric shock. This bolt of energy is more likely to happen in the winter because the air ...

One object becomes positively charged, while the other becomes negatively charged. Objects with the same charge repel each other, while those with opposite charges attract. Close ...

The number of times an object had previously touched another determined whether the object became negatively or positively charged when touched again, researchers report in the Feb. 20 Nature.

Say your hand has built up a negative charge by gathering additional electrons. As you reach for a metal object, the electrons hop across, forming a tiny, short-lived electric current.