Question

11. A hard-rubber or plastic comb rubbed against wool can often be shown to have a static charge. Why does a metal comb not readily show a static charge when rubbed against wool? Use 3 – 4 complete sentences in your answer.

Answer 1

A hard rubber plastic comb is made out of rubber so it doesn't conduct electricity. This means that it is an insulator. Unlike a conductor (a metal comb), an insulator keeps the electrons at the place of where it was rubbed instead of equally distributing them around the surface of the comb.

In a metal comb, the charges within the comb move around while in the rubber comb they can't move around because in an insulator, it doesn't allow the movement of charges.