ABSTRACT

The phenomenon of electrostatic attraction amuses children who like to stick balloons to their heads. That opposite charges attract and like charges repel is a basic law of physics. It was noted as early as 600 B.C. that small fibers would be attracted by a piece of amber after it had been rubbed. Modern knowledge of electrostatics was developed throughout the last 400 years, including the work of Benjamin Franklin on the effect of point conductors in drawing electric currents. The first demonstrations of electrostatic precipitation to remove aerosols from a gas were conducted in the early 1800s with fog and tobacco smoke.