Calculus-Based Physics 2 is the second volume of the introductory physics textbook designed for use in the two-semester introductory physics course typically taken by science and engineering students. Calculus-Based Physics is a physics textbook.
Excerpt:
Conductors and Insulators
Suppose you charge a rubber rod and then touch it to a neutral object. Some charge, repelled by the negative charge on the rod, will be transferred to the originally-neutral object. What happens to that charge then depends on the material of which the originally-neutral object consists. In the case of some materials, the charge will stay on the spot where the originally neutral object is touched by the charged rod. Such materials are referred to as insulators, materials through which charge cannot move, or, through which the movement of charge is very limited. Examples of good insulators are quartz, glass, and air. In the case of other materials, the charge, almost instantly spreads out all over the material in question, in response to the force of repulsion (recalling that force causes acceleration which leads to the movement) that each elementary particle of the charge exerts on every other elementary particle of charge. Materials in which the charge is free to move about are referred to as conductors. Examples of good conductors are metals and saltwater.
When you put some charge on a conductor, it immediately spreads out all over the conductor. The larger the conductor, the more it spreads out. In the case of a very large object, the charge can spread out so much that any chunk of the object has a negligible amount of charge and hence, behaves as if were neutral. Near the surface of the earth, the earth itself is large enough to play such a role. If we bury a good conductor such as a long copper rod or pipe, in the earth, and connect to it another good conductor such as a copper wire, which we might connect to another metal object, such as a cover plate for an electrical socket, above but near the surface of the earth, we can take advantage of the earth’s nature as a huge object made largely of conducting material. If we touch a charged rubber rod to the metal cover plate just mentioned, and then withdraw the rod, the charge that is transferred to the metal plate spreads out over the earth to the extent that the cover plate is neutral. We use the expression “the charge that was transferred to the cover plate has flowed into the earth.” A conductor that is connected to the earth in the manner that the cover plate just discussed is connected is called “ground.” The act of touching a charged object to ground is referred to as grounding the object. If the object itself is a conductor, grounding it (in the absence of other charged objects) causes it to become neutral.