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Difference Between Current and Static Electricity

static_electricity_bookCurrent vs Static Electricity

Can you imagine a world without TVs, computers, cell phones, cars, and the light bulb?

Electricity is an amazing thing. It is such a wide field of study, and many people are still confused by it. Electricity has made a huge impact on our way of life. I can’t imagine a life without electricity. We have become dependent on its applications that have made our lives enormously comfortable, enjoyable, and livable.

Most of us just enjoy the benefits of electricity, but don’t really understand the science behind it, and the phenomena associated with it. For now, let’s try to grasp two phenomena in electricity ‘“ Static Electricity and Current Electricity.

Technically, electricity is actually a phenomenon in itself, which involves the displacement or movement of electrons.

When electricity is at rest, it is called static electricity. It refers to the electric charges that build up on the surface of materials or substances. These so-called static charges remain until they are grounded, or discharged.

Static electricity is generated by friction, or sudden contact – for instance, rubbing two materials against each other. Ordinarily, atoms are ‘uncharged’. These are considered neutral substances, but they can lose or gain electrons through friction.

The rubbing procedure can cause the atoms of particular substances to lose their electrons. This loss of electrons will make the substance or material become positively charged. The excess protons caused the substance have a positive charge. Conversely, the substance that gains the electrons is said to be negatively charged.

Certain atoms readily lose electrons, and it goes the same way with particular atoms which have the tendency to accept them. When these two substances are rubbed together, the potential of generating static electricity is great. Basically, the phenomenon of static electricity is achieved when there is a separation of positive and negative charges.

Current electricity, on the other hand, is a phenomenon of moving electrons in a particular path, or direction, such as a stream of them flowing through conducting materials. Current electricity can come from various sources. The most commonly used source of current electricity is from batteries. These batteries rely on the chemical reactions within them to produce electricity.

Current electricity, in huge amounts, is typically brought about by generators. Power plants have many of these to produce enormous quantities of current electricity. The phenomenon is usually controlled, and requires a flow of electrons along a path, which is fittingly called the ‘electric current’.


1. Static electricity is caused by the build up of electrical charges on the surface of objects, while current electricity is a phenomenon from the flow of electrons along a conductor.

2. When objects are rubbed, a loss and/or gain of electrons occurs, which results in the phenomenon of static electricity.

3. Current electricity is normally controlled, and it is the more used phenomenon of electricity, in countless applications.

4. Static electricity is usually uncontrolled, and just happens sporadically.

5. Current electricity is generated by batteries and power plants.

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  1. Easy explained.. . Thnkxxx

  2. It’s so easy to understand thank you so much

  3. Please give measurement unit for Static Charge? How much static charge is harmful, cause fire?

  4. Very good answer I always take a help thanks

  5. Thank you very much for the information

  6. I liked it very much as it give proper answer for my queries

  7. This is amazing! I got my science sheet done in class because of this, thanks!

  8. vere gud i luve di s it iz my fav or it and it werk gud

  9. Thanks so much

  10. This helped a lot for my science worksheet!

  11. so a capacitor is storing a static charge that it generated via current electricity and it releases the static charge to be used much like any source of current electricity

  12. Ok thnx for these smiles

  13. Thanku so much i could do my homework for my uoi and i found so much info from this

  14. Nice explanation, thanks

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