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electrostatics

thumb|upright=1.3|alt=A tabby cat covered in packing peanuts.|Foam peanuts clinging to a cat's fur due to [[static electricity. The cat's fur becomes charged due to the triboelectric effect. The electric field of the charged fur causes polarization of the molecules of the foam due to electrostatic induction, resulting in a slight attraction of the light plastic pieces to the fur. This effect is also the cause of static cling in clothes.]]

AI overview

Electrostatics is the study of electric charges that build up on objects and the forces they create, such as when friction causes a cat's fur to become charged and attract lightweight materials like foam peanuts. Understanding electrostatics matters because it explains everyday phenomena like static cling in clothes and helps us understand how charged objects interact with their surroundings.

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Wikidata facts

Image: Cat demonstrating static cling with styrofoam peanuts.jpg

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Commons category: Electrostatics
Stack Exchange tag: physics.stackexchange.com/tags/electrostatics

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~13 min read

Article

12 sections

Contents

Coulomb's law
Electric field
Gauss's law
Poisson and Laplace equations
Electrostatic approximation
Electrostatic potential
Electrostatic energy
Electrostatic pressure
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies slow-moving or stationary electric charges on macroscopic objects where quantum effects can be neglected. Under these circumstances, the electric field, electric potential, and the charge density are related without complications from magnetic effects.