According to the law on the preservation of electric charge, which applies without exception, the charge is not produced, but "redistributed". This means that if we charge the ebonite rod negatively, then we have positively charged the "rest of the Universe". "Grounding" here simply means connecting to something so large (with such electrical capacity) that the opposite conducted charge is lost. We must not forget that "zero potential on a conductor" does not mean "zero charge on a conductor", or vice versa. The following can then occur:

• damage by electrostatic discharge; ESD Damage or
• Damage by electrostatic field.

The properties of an electric charge are expressed by:

For example, a proton, which belongs to hadrons, has a positive elementary charge. Quarks, as components of hadrons, are expected to have charges of one-third and two-thirds of the elemental charge. However, this circumstance does not change the fact of charge quantization.

Regarding the properties of charged particles, two more circumstances are remarkable. One of them is the existence of particles and antiparticles. There is an antiparticle for each particle, which differs from each other by the sign of the electric charge.

The second of these circumstances is the charge quasineutrality of the universe. In sufficiently large volumes, the total number of positive and negative charges is always balanced, and the substance, as we commonly encounter it in solid, liquid and gaseous states, appears to be electrically neutral. Deviations from electrical neutrality on a macroscopic scale are manifested by electrical forces, which again try to restore electrical neutrality.