Static electricity

Static electricity

Hello everybody!

Let's do some practical activities to remembeer what static electricity is.

Choose, at least, 2 to pass the activity. Record them in a short video.

The more you do, the better.

Project 1 – Basic attraction

• What you need:

  ·       a hard rubber or plastic comb, a plastic pen or a balloon (balloon is the best)

  ·       small pieces of tissue paper

  
  

• What to do:

  1.    Cut some small pieces of tissue paper.

  2.    Charge the balloon by rubbing it through long, dry hair several times, or on a wool sweater.

  3.    Slowly bring the ballon near the pieces of paper. They will jump to the balloon.

The small piecesmof paper remain attracted by the balloon for a while.

Project 2 - Swinging cereal 

• What you need:

  • a hard rubber or plastic comb, or a balloon (balloon is the best)
  • thread, small pieces of dry cereal (O-shapes, or puffed rice of wheat)

• What to do:

  Tie a piece of the cereal to one end of a 30 cm piece of thread. Find a place to attach the other end so that the cereal does not hang close to anything else. (You can tape the thread to the edge of a table but check with your parents first.) Wash the comb to remove any oils and dry it well. Charge the comb by running it through long, dry hair several times, or vigorously rub the comb on a wool sweater. Slowly bring the comb near the cereal. It will swing to touch the comb. Hold it still until the cereal jumps away by

  itself. Now try to touch the comb to the cereal again. It will move away as the comb approaches.

Notice how the cereal moves away from the balloon.

Project 3 - Bending water

• What you need:

  • a hard rubber or plastic comb, or a balloon (balloon is the best)
  • a sink and water tap

• What to do:

  1.    Turn on the tap so that the water runs out in a small, steady stream.

  2.    Charge the comb by running it through long, dry hair several times or rub it vigorously on a sweater.

  3.    Slowly bring the comb near the water and watch the water "bend."

Project 4 - Light a light bulb with a balloon

• What you need:

  ·       a hard rubber or plastic comb, or a balloon (balloon is the best)

  ·       a dark room

  ·       fluorescent light bulb (not an incandescent bulb) (bombilla de bajo consumo, tipo fluorescente)

  SAFETY NOTE: DO NOT USE ELECTRICITY FROM A WALL OUTLET FOR THIS EXPERIMENT. Handle the glass light bulb with care to avoid breakage. The bulb can be wrapped in sticky, transparent tape to reduce the chance of injury if it does.

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• What to do:

  1.    Take the light bulb and comb into the dark room.

  2.    Charge the comb on your hair or sweater. Make sure to build up a lot of charge for this experiment.

  3.    Touch the charged part of the comb to the metal part in the light bulb and watch very carefully. You should be able to see small sparks. Experiment with touching different parts of the bulb.

To see the light produced in the bulb you must do the experiment in the darkness.