Why do I keep getting electric shocks when I touch things?

You get electric shocks because your body is trying to balance something called electric charges.

Imagine you're like a balloon that’s been rubbed against a sweater, it gets all full of static electricity. When you touch something, like a doorknob or a friend, the extra charge wants to escape quickly, and boom! You feel a tiny electric shock, just like when a balloon pops.

Static electricity happens when there's a build-up of electric charges on your body. This usually happens when you walk across a carpet in socks or rub your hair with a towel, the friction causes extra electrons (tiny particles that carry electricity) to move from one thing to another.

You become like a little battery, full of extra electrons, and when you touch something else, which might be neutral or even have opposite charges, the electrons try to find balance by jumping from your body to the object. That jump is what causes the shock!

Sometimes the shock feels like a little zap, and sometimes it's more like a whoosh, but either way, it’s just your body trying to fix an imbalance!