ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Electrostatics

Hello there! Electrostatics is a big word that talks about how electricity acts when things are sitting still and not moving around.

You know how when you rub balloons on your hair, they stick to the wall or your head? That's because the balloons are charged with electricity, and so are the surfaces they are sticking to. This is one example of electrostatics.

When things rub against each other, they can create a force called static electricity. This force can attract or repel other charged objects, kind of like how magnets attract or repel each other.

Have you ever seen lightning during a thunderstorm? That's another example of electrostatics. Lightning is basically a big spark of electricity that happens because positive and negative charges build up in the clouds. When there is enough charge, it creates a big spark between the clouds and the ground, and that's the lightning that we see.

In short, electrostatics is all about how static electricity works and how objects can attract or repel each other because of electric charges.