Electrostatics

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 peanut 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.

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.

Since classical antiquity, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word ḗlektron (ἤλεκτρον), meaning 'amber', was thus the root of the word electricity. Electrostatic phenomena arise from the forces that electric charges exert on each other. Such forces are described by Coulomb's law.

There are many examples of electrostatic phenomena, from those as simple as the attraction of plastic wrap to one's hand after it is removed from a package, to the apparently spontaneous explosion of grain silos, the damage of electronic components during manufacturing, and photocopier and laser printer operation.