The Static Spooks Experiment (and more!)
The Static Spooks Experiment (and more!)
Here are a set of science experiments that will teach you all about static electricity. Put your science lab coats on, scientists; we’re about to begin!
Floating Spooks
Here’s an eerie experiment that you can use to scare the socks off your friends. The ghost of static electricity will help you!
Materials for the experiment:
- Balloon
- Wool sweater, or hair
- Scissors
- Coffee filter
Experiment:
Find out how to cut these little buggers out...
- Cut up little pieces of a coffee filter into the shape of 2” tall ghosts.
- Blow up the balloon and rub it on a wool sweater or your hair.
- Now, quickly take the balloon off your sweater or head and place it over the little ghosts.
- Watch the ghosts actively float upwards towards the balloon!
Evanescent lighting not included!
The science behind the experiment:
Like magic, static electricity possesses the power to move objects without strings or direct contact. The rubbing of the wool gives the balloon a negative charge – this is the same negative charge you gather when dragging your feet in socks over carpet and the same charge you feel jump from your body when you touch a metal object! In the world of electrical charges, opposites attract and similar charges repel. The balloon easily attracts opposite, positively-charged particles of the light ghosts, which is why they jump up without actually being touched! Amazing, right?
Here’re two more easy-to-do, spooky static experiments:
The Lost Water
Materials for the experiment:
- Balloon
- Wool sweater, or hair
- Running faucet
Experiment:
- Blow up the balloon and rub it on a wool sweater or your hair.
- Turn the faucet on to run a slow, steady stream of water.
- Now, take the balloon off your sweater or head and place it close to the running water.
- Watch the water magically bend towards the balloon!
The science behind the experiment:
Water has no overall electrical charge, but the negatively-charged particles in the water can move a little bit. When the negatively-charged balloon comes near the water, the water molecules’ negative particles repel away from the balloon with the same charge, rotating the water molecules overall. Now, the sides of the water molecules facing the balloon have a positive charge. Just like puzzle pieces, the negative and positive charges are attracted to each other and fit together perfectly. To better understand this, think of two magnets you try to force together. If the sides of both magnets facing each other are giving off negative charges, they will not touch and repel each other away. However, if one face of a magnet is negative and the other magnet’s face is positive, they attract each other. This is similar to the actions of the water and the balloon. The attraction between the water’s face’s positive charge and balloon’s negative charge causes the stream to bend towards the balloon like a magnet, defying the directly-downward pull of gravity!
Collecting Pitch-Black Pepper
Materials for the experiment:
- Balloon
- Wool sweater, or hair
- Salt
- Pepper
Experiment:
- Mix up salt and pepper in a little pile.
- Blow up the balloon and rub it on a wool sweater or your hair.
- Now, take the balloon off your sweater or head and slowly place it closely over the pile of salt and pepper. Don’t move too fast, or the salt will leap as well!
- Watch the dark pepper jump up to cling to the balloon, leaving the salt in the dust!
The science behind the experiment:
Again, the rubbing against the balloon charges the balloon negatively. Negative charges are drawn to opposite, positive charges, and the salt and pepper both fall into the positive charge category. The pepper flies up without the salt, because the pepper is lighter than the salt; if you moved the balloon any faster towards the pile, they both would have leapt to attach to the balloon. You’re now free to wash off the pepper, or wipe off the pepper from the balloon and try to recollect it into its separate shaker.
