CertiGuide to A+ (Core Hardware)  9  Chapter 0000:  The Start of the PC       9  V  Electricity

V  Electricity 1 Insulators and Conductors

Remember that an atom doesn't weigh very much, and the electron is a very small part of an atom. This means an electron has almost no weight.

Electrons not attached to the orbit of an atom are known as free electrons.

A property fact of free electrons is they move at a very high speed (about 186,000 mi. per second) traveling through metal, many gases, or a vacuum.

If an electron isn't flying around, it can rest on a surface.

When a few trillion free electrons are sitting around on a surface, this is known as a negative static electrical charge.

By using friction, light, chemicals, or heat it is possible to create a surface with a positive static electrical charge.

If you ever walked across carpet and felt the static electricity make you jump as you reached for a light switch, you experienced creating electricity by mechanical friction. Electricity behaves the same way a magnet does. That is to say opposite charges attract, like charges repel.

V  Electricity 1 Insulators and Conductors