Background
When a balloon is rubbed against hair, a towel or a jumper, it gains more electrons which have a negative charge. This gives the balloon an overall negative charge. Objects with a positive charge or no overall charge like a tin can will now be attracted (= be drawn) to the balloon. We call this “static electricity”.
You will need
- Balloon
- Towel, jumper or your hair
- Empty soda can
- Water tap
- A smooth surface, e.g. a table
What to do
- Blow up the balloon.
- Put the empty soda can on its side on a smooth surface.
- Rub the balloon on a towel, jumper or your hair to create static electricity.
- Hold the balloon close to the side of the soda can, but do not let them touch.
- Slowly move the balloon away from the soda can along the surface.
- Observe what happens.
- Rub the balloon again on a towel, jumper or your hair.
- Open the water tap, so that only very little water is running. It should be almost dripping.
- Hold the balloon close to the water, but do not let the balloon touch the water.
- Observe what happens.
You can also watch this experiment here:
