Q:
MSU
No.
35
What is static electricity?
Have you ever felt a shock when you touched a door knob?
Ever notice how your hair stands on end when you jump
on a trampoline or go down a plastic slide? These are
both static electricity. Static electricity is different from
the normal electricity that powers your appliances. Static
electricity is the buildup of charges on an object.
All things are made of tiny little pieces called atoms.
Parts of the atoms have positive (+) and negative (-) charges,
and they are opposites. As the saying goes, opposites
attract. When the numbers of positive and negative charges
are equal, the object has overall neutral charge. Static
electricity is the build-up of unequal charges on an object,
giving the object an overall positive or negative charge.
For instance when you rub a balloon on your hair,
the balloon takes negative charges from your hair. The
balloon becomes negatively charged and you hair becomes
positively charged. The balloon then sticks to your hair
because the opposite charges attract. Static electricity is the
attraction that holds them together.
Static electricity can even move things, like making
your hair move away from your head. However, it cannot
be used to power things, because it is not strong enough.
Scientists at Montana State University are researching
different ways to power appliances and cars besides
electricity and gasoline.
Try this!
Bend water with static electricity
Stick a balloon to your hair or your pet’s fur
Rub a plastic comb on the carpet, your dog’s fur, or through your hair
many times. Hold it close to a small stream of water coming out of the
faucet. The static electricity will bend the stream of water. If this
experiment does not work, try a different plastic comb, or try
rubbing it longer or on something else, and try again.
Blow up a latex or plastic balloon and tie it off at the bottom. Rub it
to your head or on your pet’s fur. Let go of the balloon and it should
stick to where you left it. Animals have silly reactions to this experiment sometimes; watch them after you stick the balloon to them.
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