You rub two insulators against each other and attain a charge imbalance. Is there a rule as to which of the materials will end up with a negative charge and vice versa? Does it depend on which one has more or less lose valence electrons?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

there is empirical series of materials sorted from which one is most likely to lose vs gain electrons, but what exactly happens is one of unsolved problems in physics

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 child)

    Here's a link to an article talking about it, including a small list of materials and if they will lose or gain electrons. I found that with a quick search, more or better ones can be found, I'm sure. I chose this one because it has the split between gain and loss, which others don't.

    Edit: working link

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment