Charging by rubbing takes advantage of the fact that different materials have different abilities to gain electrons. For example, when a piece of fabric is rubbed against a rubber balloon, the balloon acquires electrons from the fabric. Eventually, there is an electron excess (negative charge) present on the balloon and an electron deficient on the fabric (positive charge). This difference in electrons is what creates the attractive force between the two items.
Once a charge (an electron) is transferred from the fabric to the balloon, the charge will want to return to the fabric. Any conductive material placed between the two objects will allow electrons to flow back to the fabric. Moist air is conductive. Thus, the transfer of electrons from the fabric to a balloon on a dry day will be equal to that on a wet day. However, on a dry day the charges will not conduct back to the fabric as easily as on a wet day.
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