Static Electricity or Electrostatics
Hands-On Labs, Inc.
Version 44-0278-00-01
Lab Report Assistant
This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab
Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed,
and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate
students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which
can be sent to an instructor.
Observations
Data Table 1. Effects of Ruler Charging Material.
Charging
Material
Uncharged
Cotton
Fur
Wool
Silk
Nylon
Polyester
Paper
Salt
Pepper
Aluminum
Styrofoam
Questions
Part I
A. What happened when you brought the rubbed ruler close to the paper, salt, and
pepper?
a. Were all three substances affected equally?
b. What explanations can you offer for why this happened?
B. What combinations of cloth and ruler seemed to produce the greatest effects?
Part II
A. Why do you think the charged ruler affected the original suspended strip as it did?
B. What happened when you brought the two separated tapes close to each other?
What explanations can you offer for this?
C. How many types of charge did you work with in this exercise? How do you know?
D. If a third type of charge existed, how would it affect the two oppositely charged
strips in this activity?
E. Why do you think the charged ruler affected the two suspended tapes as it did?
F. How would you explain the attraction or repulsion between each of the suspended
tapes and the uncharged paper strip?
G. How would you explain the fact that a charged ruler can attract an uncharged
object like the paper bits, salt and pepper?
Part III
A. Recharge the second Styrofoam cup by rubbing it with the fur. Run the cup lightly
over the back of your arm. What do you observe and/or feel happening?
B. Bring the Styrofoam cup close to another person's hair. What do you observe?
What conclusions can you make regarding charged Styrofoam?
Part IV
A. Rub an inflated balloon with the fur and try to stick it to different surfaces. What
can you make the balloon stick to? Does it stick better to some surfaces? Why?
B. Rub an inflated balloon against your hair and then try to stick it to the same objects
you used for Step A. Does rubbing with fur work as well as, better than, or worse
than if you rub the balloon against your hair instead?
C. Bring the charged balloon close to the paper scraps from Part 2. How does the
rubbed balloon affect the paper bits?
D. After rubbing a balloon with fur, bring the balloon near but NOT touching a very
thin stream of water. Record your observations. Does the same thing happen when
other charged objects are brought near the water? Try some and record the results.
Be careful to NOT get the fur wet!
Part V
A. Describe what you observed. Why does this happen? Use appropriate diagrams to
help you explain.
B. Exactly what was the purpose of touching the ball while the ruler was nearby?
C. Draw appropriate diagrams to support your verbal descriptions. You should draw
more than one illustrative diagram for this section.
D. Neutralize the aluminum foil ball. Bring the charged ruler close enough to the ball
so that the ball gently and quickly touches it only once. Describe what you observe
just after they touch. Explain why this happens in both words and appropriate
diagrams.