Charge is a fundamental property of the universe. Most subatomic particles possess charge the most common being protons and electrons. Charges are either positive, neutral or negative.
A positive charge means that the object has lost electrons and is no longer electrically neutral. Each electron lost gives the particle a charge of +1.6 x 10-19 coulombs. Positive, or vitreous, charges are classically created by rubbing a glass rod with silk. The rod becomes positive (loses electrons); the silk become negative (gains electrons). Since electric charge is conserved, the system (glass rod and silk) maintains a net charge of 0.
A negative charge means that the object has gained electrons. Each electron gains gives the particle a charge of -1.6 x 10-19 coulombs. Negative, or resinous, charges are classically created by rubbing a rubber rod with fur. The rod becomes negatively charged; the fur positively charged. By definition, negatively charged objects have more mass than an identical neutral object since each extra electron has a mass of 9.11 x 10-31 kg.
Electrification by friction occurs when two surfaces are rubbed together. Examples of this were discussed above when a positive charge was created by rubbing glass with silk and a negative charge was created by rubbing rubber with fur. The following list details a larger portion of the triboelectric sequence. When any two substances shown in this list are rubbed together, the top one will become positively charged while the lower one will become negatively charged. The further apart the two substances are in the list, the greater the electrification.
