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Question:

when touching a piece of aluminum, does the aluminum gain a positive or negative charge?

I don't know if the electrons are being passed from my hand to the aluminum or from the aluminum to my hand.Thanks

Answer:

Aluminum is a metal and every metal has a property that it holds electrons of its outer most orbital quite loosely ( it is electropositive ). And our hand's skin consists of mostly COVALENT bonded compounds which hold their electrons quite tightly. So if we touch aluminum the chances are strong that the electrons are being transferred from aluminum to our hands. But since our hand have covalent compounds so the total transfer must be very small if it is anyway. Otherwise we feel shock every time we touch a neutral aluminum also IF U develop some negative charge then aluminum will take that charge since it has small hold on the outermost electrons. so it easily takes charge frm yr hand at lower potential to its ground potential surface.
Aluminum is a metal and a good conductor of electricity. If you touch it, it will get grounded, so it will be neutral. You cannot charge a metal up by touching it with your hand unless you are not grounded yourself. If you are standing on a piece of plastic, say, then it will take whatever charge is on you. If you are positive, it will become positive. If you are negative, it will become negative. But you must be insulated from ground to do that. If you are touching the ground then any charge on the aluminum will just flow out of the metal through you to ground and the aluminum will stay neutral

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