Final answer:
Static electricity is caused by the separation of positively or negatively charged particles. It involves imbalances of positive and negative electric charges which can exert forces and cause observable phenomena such as hair standing up or balloons sticking to walls.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that accurately describes static electricity is: D. It is caused by separated positively or negatively charged particles. Static electricity occurs when there is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. Charges can separate through various means, such as rubbing two different materials together, which can transfer electrons from one to the other, creating positively charged and negatively charged surfaces that can exert forces on each other.
Static electricity can make your hair stand up after removing a hat or cause a balloon to stick to a wall after rubbing it against your clothes. Additionally, the force due to static electric charges decreases with distance, which is why static effects are most noticeable when two objects are close to each other. The vast majority of static electricity involves the movement or separation of electrons—the primary carriers of negative charge—though positively charged protons can also play a role.