The ideas and assumptions around eletrostatics during the 1700's played a crucial role in in our current model of the atom. This time gave birth to the idea that electric charge is caused by the unequal distribution of electrons within the atoms, and that an object with excess electrons has a negative charge, while an object with a deficiency of electrons has a positive charge. In the Astro Atomic Model, this is a complete misconception, brought about by the assumption that electricity is some type of 'fluid' or caused by abundances of particles.