system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: how can electrons just be ok on their own and fly around?

Where do these spare electrons come from? Do they come from atoms? If yes, how are the atoms able to just lose their electrons and it be ok? I mean like in the Maltese Cross experiment you're essentially "shooting electrons" but I just don't get where they come from. Thanks in advance :)
gpt
In certain substances, particularly metals, some of the electrons become community property, freely shared between atoms.  These atoms are free to flow through the metal and are the reason metals tend to be good at conducting electricity.

These electrons can be stripped away from the metal to perform the experiments you describe.  The metal will have a slight positive charge and tend to grab electrons from the environment.  The electrons will eventually join atoms to form negative ions, and those ions will be eager to give up their electrons.  Over time, extra electrons will be lost and missing ones gain, and the overall system will reach equilibrium.