Rubbed the wrong way
Why Do You Get Shocks?
Rubbing scrapes tiny charges off one thing and onto another. They want to get back.
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Step 1 of 5
Everything is made of two opposite charges.
Atoms have a heavy positive core and light negative electrons around the outside. Normally the two balance exactly and you notice nothing.
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Step 2 of 5
Rubbing scrapes electrons across.
Some materials hold their electrons loosely. Drag a wool jumper over a plastic slide and electrons transfer from one to the other by the billion.
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Step 3 of 5
Unbalanced charge wants to get back.
Extra electrons repel each other and are pulled toward anything positive. They build up on you, sitting there, waiting for a route out.
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Step 4 of 5
Air normally blocks them — until it doesn't.
Air is an insulator, so charge is stuck. But if the pile-up gets strong enough, it rips air molecules apart and briefly turns the gap into a conductor.
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Step 5 of 5
The snap is thousands of volts, but nearly no energy.
A door-handle shock can be 3,000 volts. It stings because it all arrives in a millionth of a second, but the total energy is tiny and harmless.
It happens more in winter because dry air lets charge build up. Damp air quietly leaks it away.
The short version
Static shocks are electrons that got rubbed onto you, all rushing back at once.
Try it yourself
Rub a balloon on your hair and hold it near a thin stream of water from a tap. The stream bends toward it.
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