MOVED TO http://amasci.com/miscon/curstat.txt

older version is below...















What is the difference between                       1997 William Beaty
static and current electricity?

This is a really hard question to answer.  It's not hard because it's
complicated, it's hard because dictionaries contain several different
definitions for each of these words.  If you ask "what is Static
Electricity?" or "what is Current Electricity", different people will give
you different answers.  This happens because different people are thinking
of different meanings for the words "static electricity" and "current
electricity".  This is a serious problem, because in science we want a
term like "static electricity" to have just one meaning. When a term has
several different meanings, people become confused, and they get into
useless arguments about what "static" and "current" really are. 

Here is a possible solution to this problem.  Don't ask "what is the
difference between static and current electricity".  Instead ask "what are
the various definitions of the words 'static electricity' and 'current
electricity'?"  How do the meanings of the words differ?


DEFINITION ONE:

   Static and current electricity are not stuff, they are not energy. 
   Instead they are subject areas, they are groups of things which happen. 
   In technical terms, they are called "classes of phenomena".  

For example, "weather" is not a stuff, neither is it a form of energy, but
if you investigate the sky, you will find lots of "weather" going on.
Weather is not made of H2O molecules or nitrogen, but weather involves
water, air, sunlight, etc.  Weather is a class of phenomena.  Humans
created the idea of "weather", and humans decide when something is
"weather" or when it is not. 

Under Definition 1, electricity is a thing like "weather."  It doesn't
really exist except in our minds.  "Electricity" is a bunch of electrical
happenings which humans have grouped together.  Looking for "electricity"
inside wires would be as foolish as collecting rainwater in order to look
for tiny pieces of "weather" in the water. 

Under definition one, STATIC ELECTRIC EVENTS occur whenever positive or
negative electric charges are held apart from each other.  When you comb
your hair on a dry day, and then find that the comb can pick up bits of
dust, then that is a static electric happening, it is an example of
"static electricity."  But watch out: there is no "static" in the hair or
in the comb.  Instead, the rising hair IS the "static electricity."  The
crackling sounds ARE the "static electricity", in the same way that rain
and wind and sunshine are "weather". 

Under definition one, ELECTRIC CURRENT events occur whenever positive
charges flow through negative charges, or when negative charges flow
through positive charges.  When you turn on a flashlight, the charges that
are already within the wires will begin begin to flow.  The light bulb
lights up, and the whole thing is a current-electric happening.  It is an
example of "current electricity."  But no "current electricity" flows in
the wires.  Instead, the lighting of the bulb, the turning of the switch,
the unseen motion of the charges, all these things are the "current
electricity".  They are electrical happenings, electrical phenomena,
therefor they are "electricity." 


DEFINITION TWO

There's another completely different way to think about the words "static"
and "current": 

  "Static Electricity and "Current Electricity" are two types of science.  

Just as "physics" is a science, and "geology" is a science, there is a
science called "static electricity."  In professional circles it is
actually called Electrostatics.  And just as "biology" is a science and
"optics" is another, there is a science called "current electricity." 
Scientists have a more official name for it, they call it
"Electrodynamics."  Static electricity is the study of electric charges,
and the way they separate and combine.  Static Electricity studies the
attraction and repulsion between charges, and the invisible electrical
fields they create.  Current Electricity is the study of the flowing or
wiggling of charges, of the magnetic attraction and repulsion they create,
and of the way they can move energy around.  Under definition two,
"electricity" is not a stuff and not an energy.  In a similar way,
"physics" and "biology" are not energy or stuff.  Blood moves through the
arteries and veins, but this is not a flow of "biology".  And electric
charge might flow inside wires, but this is not a flow of "electricity." 


DEFINITION THREE

This definition appears in books and dictionaries, but it is misleading and
mostly wrong:

   Static electricity and current electricity are two forms of energy.

It is misleading to say that they are energy, because this will give
everyone the idea that electrical charges are energy.  Charges are not
energy!  Or perhaps it will lead you to believe that classes of phenomena
are energy.  Charges are not energy, they are matter.  Classes of
phenomena are not real things, they are collections of happenings which
humans have grouped together.  Definition 3 might also give you the wrong
idea that electric current is a flow of energy. It is not.  When charges
flow, energy does not flow along with them. There is actually just one
form of electrical energy.  It is called "electromagnetism." 
Electromagnetic energy is light, radio waves, magnetic fields, and
electric fields. Static electricity and current electricity are not
electromagnetic fields, so they are not a form of energy. 

However, Definition 3 can be found in dictionaries.  People commonly use
the words "static" and "current" to mean "energy."  This suggests that,
even though it is wrong, definition 3 is real.  Don't forget that
dictionaries also contain slang words.  Dictionaries record which words we
commonly use, even we use those words incorrectly. 

WATCH OUT!

If you start to discuss "static" and "current," people will argue with
you.  Some people will tell you that Definition One is the real answer,
and that all the other definitions are wrong.  Other people will try to
convince you that Definition Two is real and the others are incorrect. 
But these people are all wrong, since ALL these definitions can be found
in different dictionaries and encyclopedias.  All three definitions are
real.  If you prefer one of them, then you have a problem, because there
is no way to erase the others from all those dictionaries, and there is no
way to force other people to stop using the alternate meanings of "static"
and "current." 

My advice: avoid the fight entirely.  Never use the words "static
electricity", instead say "charge separation" or "the science of
electrostatics".  Also, never say "current electricity", instead say
"charge flow" or "electric current", or "the science of electrodynamics". 
In this way you can avoid all the fuss, and get down to understanding the
real science that hides somewhere behind all the confusing words.

((((((((((((((((((((( ( (  (   (    (O)    )   )  ) ) )))))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty                                  SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billbeskimo.com                                  amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits          science projects, tesla, weird science