Science Smarts: Static

By Patty Rooks on January 10, 2026.

This morning was a rough one; it seemed as if anything could go wrong it did … It is fine though, nothing major, just small things that made it seem like the day was never going to end. Of course, the malfunctioning of the printer is what inspired this week’s article. I have to say when you know how something works, it does makes it easier to fix! Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– Plastic petri dish

– Piece of wool cloth

– Pepper

– Paper

– Scissors

Procedure

1. Place a small pinch of pepper into the petri dish.

2. Place the cover on the petri dish and shake it up well so that the pepper is spread out evenly over the bottom of the dish.

3. With the piece of paper, cut out a shape or a stencil.

4. Hold the shape on top of the petri dish.

5. Rub only the open area of the petri dish with the wool cloth.

6. Remove the stencil and turn the dish upside down.

7. Turn the dish right side up. What do you see?

What is going on?

Did you notice that only certain areas of the lid of the petri dish became charged when it was rubbed with the piece of wool. You should have been able to see the outline of the stencil.

This is due to static electricity. The pepper is uncharged; it was attracted to the charged areas on the lid and as a result sticking there. The pepper particles were attracted because they are electrical insulators and also because of their irregular shape. These two factors make it very difficult for the electrical charges to transfer themselves from the plastic to the pepper.

When the plastic was rubbed with the wool, negative static electricity was created, which created a positive charge on the top of the pepper particles.

This experiment was relevant to my printer problem because my laser printer uses the same science to work.

DO NOT FORGET: Our annual Science Fair Button Contest has been extended. Be sure to get your entries in as the winner will be the featured button at the Regional Science Fair this year! Visit the Praxis website at https://www.praxismedhat.com/science-fair and click on “Button Contest” for the entry form.

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant Praxis Science Outreach Society. Praxis is located in the Community Futures Entre Corp Building at #202 556 Fourth St. SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 0K8. For all your science needs, please email praxis@praxismh.ca.

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