Static magic - At home science - ExpeRimental #5

Explore the magical world of static electricity by making charged objects move without touching them.
For more ideas, and to download an info sheet click here:
www.rigb.org/fa...
In this fun, simple science activity to do at home with children, Sophie Scott and her son investigate static electricity. By rubbing a balloon or straw on a cloth or their clothes, they make balancing pencils, pens, and spoons move without touching them! In these experiments they discover how things with opposite charges attract, and those with the same charge repel. They investigate whether the phenomenon will work with a variety of objects and even a stream of running water, asking questions about the science at play as they go.
Download the info sheet for more ideas and further activities here: bit.ly/SMInfoSheet
ExpeRimental, brought to you by the Royal Institution of Great Britain, is a series of free short films that make it fun, easy and cheap to do science at home with children aged 4 to 10. Our films give you lots of ideas for kids' activities that will help you explore the world around you, question and experiment together. We'll show you how to do the activity and how to make sure adults and children get the most out of it. Why not have a go and then tell us what you think on our Facebook page? / ri.experimental
For more information, visit rigb.org/experi...
The Ri is on Twitter: / ri_science
and Facebook: / royalinstitution
and Tumblr: / ri-science
Our editorial policy: www.rigb.org/ho...
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsle...

[@TheSciGuys]

The Darth Vader mask made me laugh!! This is such a cool set of demonstrations.

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

NEW FILM: Explore the magical world of static electricity by making charged objects move without touching them, and give your children Jedi powers with a few everyday objects!

[@TheEditWiz_edits]

Electric fields are the force in real life.They can repel/attract objects or charges and everything including you and me are what surrounds us and binds matter and charges to one another.Without electric/electromagnetic fields everything would disintegrate.

[@MichaelBurnsGuitar]

I have a quick question. If the electrons from the atoms of the cloth (C, H, N, O etc.) where do they attach onto specifically onto the atoms of the balloon? Does the n=2 shell fill up and cause the balloon atoms to be ionised (which would rustle the chemistry) or do they hang out somewhere up above? Just thinking of Pauli Exclusion Principle

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

This is a great question, which often gets glossed over in discussions of static. The transferred charge, if in the form of individual electrons, does get incorporated into the molecules of the balloon. There is no issue with the Pauli Exclusion Principle because the whole electronic structure of the molecules rearranges to accommodate the extra charge. This is what happens normally in a covalent bond - in fact the process of charge transfer is a result of the temporary formation of chemical bonds where the two surfaces touch, causing a redistribution of charge. When the two surfaces are separated, that fixes the new charge distribution, resulting in a net transfer.

[@IsratToysReview]

nice

[@adarshsharma5187]

first

[@TheJabworks]

second