What’s the Difference Between Static Electricity and ‘Regular’ Electricity?
[caption id="attachment_26762" align="alignright" width="480"] A thunderstorm - Image by Felix Mittermeier[/caption]Is static electricity different from regular electricity, or is there simply something different about how it is formed and how it behaves? What, for that matter, is electricity? Obviously it involves electrons. Electricity, Your Ordinary Household Variety A household circuit is just that. It's a circuit - a kind of conductive circle that allows electrons to flow through a device that uses some of them to function. Flow is the key. Flow is the word. Consider a water hose. When you turn the water on, does it trickle out or burst out? The amperage, like the water in the hose, represents the amount of electrons. The voltage is comparable to the pressure of the flow. Finally, flow suggests dynamic energy,…