It's stored in batteries or generated by an electric utility company, and it can be used to power everything from toasters and air conditioners in our homes to manufacturing equipment in large factories. Static electricity, on the other hand, is not useful as an energy source. While current electricity flows predictably from one point to another along a circuit, static electricity jumps from one object to another in a sudden, violent movement. Every object in the universe is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Atoms contain even smaller particles called protons, neutrons and electrons.
Protons carry a positive charge, neutrons carry no charge, and electrons carry a negative charge.
We know that particles with like charges repel each other and particles with opposites charges attract. Likewise, we know that protons repel other protons but attract electrons, and that electrons repel other electrons but attract protons. Most objects contain the same number of protons and elec-trons and, therefore, carry no charge. For example, neither a plastic comb nor your hair carry a charge under normal circumstances. But when you comb your hair and then move your comb away from your hair, sometimes the hair is attracted to the comb.