Science Smarts: Cooler, dryer air a perfect time to talk about static electricity

By Patty Rooks on November 9, 2024.

Welcome to winter this week! Depending on where you live, you experienced a bit of snow; it did not last long, but something that does when the cold weather sets in is the dryness. I do not know about you, but the dry air has my hair sticking straight in the air. No, not just a little bit, full out in every direction! Not to mention my clothes adhering to me like a bandage – the good news is it is no fault of mine; it is due to science and, specifically, static electricity. Let’s get started!

* Remember to ask an adult before you do this experiment.

Materials

– Balloon

– Clean, dry head of hair, or a wool sweater

– Sheet of black paper

– Salt

– Pepper

– Sturdy surface

– Tablespoon

Procedure

1. Place the sheet of black coloured paper on a sturdy, flat surface.

2. Place six tablespoons of salt on the paper. You want to have a nice mound of salt.

3. Add three tablespoons of pepper.

4. Using your fingers carefully mix this up well.

5. Blow up the balloon and tie it.

6. Rub the balloon in your hair (or a volunteer’s hair if you do not want messy hair!). Make sure you rub back and forth several times, really well.

7. Be VERY quiet.

8. Slowly place the balloon over the salt and pepper mixture.

9. What do you see?

10. Did you hear anything?

11. Repeat.

Caution: You do not want to touch your eyes while doing this experiment as the pepper powder on your fingers will really sting your eyes. Once you are done, be sure to dispose of the balloon and wash your hands very well.

Explanation

You should have heard and saw the pepper quickly attract to the balloon. This is because when you rubbed the balloon in your hair, it became charged. The pepper in this experiment was uncharged. When you held a charged object (balloon) over the pepper that was uncharged, it quickly became attracted to it. If you carefully look at the bottom of the balloon, you will be able to see all of the pepper stuck to it.

It is official – bookings are not being taken for the Science Fair 101 Program! We are her to help support educators and students develop award winning science fair projects. It is up to you as an educator how much or how little support you require; from introducing the scientific method, to ensuring your students have all of the steps required for their project to assisting with an in school science fair; we can have your students prepped and ready for the 50th annual Regional Science Fair on March 22, 2025! Space is limited so please book early.

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: 12 826 11th Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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