Static electricity is all about charge and the forces that happen because the charges are not in balance. It’s what happens when you separate the plus and minus charges, and you can get objects to move even when they are not touching each other.
I’ve got two different videos that use positive and negative charges to make things rotate, the first of which is more of a demonstration (unless you happen to have a 50,000 Volt electrostatic generator on hand), and the second is a homemade version on a smaller scale that you can do right at home, right now.
Here’s the demonstration first:
Now let’s look at how to make something right at home that really shows the same thing. All you need is a yardstick, a balloon, and a big spoon. And a very dry day (this won’t work if it’s rainy or humid)…
So why did the yardstick move? It has to do with something called static electricity. Static electricity is what happens when you separate the positive and negative charges and play with the forces between them. We’re going to learn about this and more in my upcoming class on electricity, so I’ll see you on class soon!
