Static Electricity Archives - Eva Varga

HomeschoolingScience & TechnologyScience Resources

Science with Harry Potter: The Magic of Motion (Physics)

April 22, 2019

Charms is a core class and subject taught at both Hogwarts and  Ilvermorny Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is a required subject for all students. Throughout the course, students learn specific wand movements and proper pronunciation of the charms outlined in their course texts.

Levitation

You don’t need a magic wand to create levitating objects. Simple gather a few things from around the house and you will be underway.

1. Levitating Ping Pong Ball

You only need two things to perform this science experiment.

  • Ping pong ball
  • Drinking straw (preferably a bendy straw)

Procedure:

  1. For the best results, use a bendy straw instead of a regular straight straw. Bend the neck 90 degrees so it points straight up. While holding the straw with one hand, hold the ping pong ball over the end.
  2. Blow a constant breath of air into the straw under the ping pong ball.  If the air pressure is strong enough, it will lift the ball off the tip of the straw and the ball should be able to float at least one inch off the straw.

How does it work? Simply put, it’s air pressure.  The air coming from the straw is moving faster than the air around it, and this means that it also has a lower air pressure than the air around it.  The ball is kept within the column of lower air pressure because of the higher-pressure air surrounding it.

2. Static Flyers

In this experiment, if you know how static electricity works, you can make the students at Hogwart’s envy your skills. Here’s a great TEDEd video to get you started, The Science of Static Electricity.

  • Plastic produce bag
  • Balloon
  • Cotton towel

Procedure:

  1. Use a pair of scissors to cut a strip from the open end of the produce bag. Once the strip is cut, you should have a large plastic band.
  2. Blow up the balloon to its full size and tie off the opening end. Rub the the surface of the balloon for 1 minute with the cotton towel.
  3. Flatten the plastic band on the table surface and gently rub the towel on the band for 1 minute.
  4. Hold the plastic band about one foot over the balloon and let go. The plastic band should levitate.

How does it work?

Rubbing the towel against the balloon and the plastic band transfers a negative charge to both objects. The band floats above the balloon because the like charges repel one another. If you really want to impress someone, just tell them that it’s a demonstration of “electrostatic propulsion and the repulsion of like charge.”

In a related demonstration you may have tried picking up small pieces of paper confetti with a charged balloon. Though the paper isn’t charged, it is attracted to the balloon because the negative charge on the balloon repels the electrons in the paper, making them (on average) farther from the balloon’s charge than are the positive charges in the paper.

As something gets farther away, the electrical forces decrease in strength. Therefore, the attraction between the negatives and positives is stronger than the repulsion between the negatives and negatives. This leads to an overall attraction. The paper is said to have an induced charge.

3. Levitating Spiral Orb

One more fun activity is the Levitating Orb. For this one, you’ll need:

  • PVC Tube about 60cm long (a regular balloon will also work)
  • Mylar tinsel (typically used to decorate Christmas trees)
  • Cotton towel (or your clean hair)
  1. Arrange 6 strands of mylar together and tie them together in a knot at one end. Do the same at the opposite end (each knot should be about 15 cm apart). Cut off any excess strands on the ends that protrude beyond the knot.
  2. Charge the PVC tube by rubbing the towel back and forth along the length of the tube for about 30 seconds.
  3. Hold the mylar orb (by the knot) above the charged tube and let it drop and touch the tube.
  4. It should repel away and start floating. If the tinsel keeps sticking to the tube, the tinsel is probably not thin enough and you will need to try another kind of tinsel. You will also need to “recharge” the tube each time.

Projectile Motion

In the Harry Potter movie The Sorcerer’s Stone, Malfoy throws Neville’s remembrall and Harry races after it, making a spectacular catch (all while flying on broomsticks).

Magical Motion ~ Using this film as a starting point, students are immersed in concepts related to projectile motion. They explore the relationships between displacement, velocity, and acceleration.

Projectile Magic ~ In the next lesson, they learn to use equations of linear motion to describe the behavior of a system as a function of time.

This post is part of a five-day hopscotch. Join me each day this week as we dive into each course.

Herbology (Botany)

Care of Magical Creatures (Zoology)

Potions (Chemistry)

Alchemy Astronomy & Divination (Geology)

Magical Motion (Physics) – this post

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HomeschoolingLab ReportScience & TechnologyScience in ActionSTEM Club

STEM Club: Basics of Electricity

January 8, 2014

electricity

Energy is the ability to work. You need energy to force an object to move. You need energy to make matter change. The wind blowing, a river, a cormorant diving, and a falling leaf are all examples of energy in use. There are two basic types of energy, kinetic and potential. Kinetic energy is being used as an object is in motion. Potential energy is in storage just waiting to be used.

Energy is captured in many different forms.  Today, our focus is on electrical energy. Electrical energy is the movement of charged particles, negative (-) and positive (+). It can come from batteries or power plants and it can also be found in nature. Power plants burn fuel to make electricity which is then sent to homes and businesses through wires.  I thereby begin by introducing the kids to the basics of electricity – static electricity and electrical currents.

Static Electricity

Electrical charges can be negative (-) or positive (+). Opposite charges attract each other while similar charges repel each other. As electrical charges build up on a material, it creates static electricity.  A powerful example of static is the lightning bolt. Lightning is a discharge of static electricity from thunderclouds. Inside the cloud, water and ice rub together and separate positive and negative charges. The positive ice particles are lightweight and gather at the top of the cloud. The heavy negative water particles settle at the bottom until the buildup is so great the charge tries to jump to the ground where particles on the ground are positively charged. This jump emits a giant spark or lightning bolt.

Big Ideas

  • Atoms are made of extremely tiny particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons.
  • Protons and neutrons are in the center of the atom, making up the nucleus.
  • Electrons surround the nucleus.
  • Protons have a positive charge.
  • Electrons have a negative charge.
  • Neutrons have no charge.
  • Since opposite charges attract, protons and electrons attract each other.

Give it a Try

Students can see evidence of the charges of protons and electrons by doing a simple activity with static electricity.  All you need is a plastic grocery bag and a pair of scissors with which to cut the bag into strips. Give each student a strip of plastic (approx. 2-4cm x 20cm) cut from a plastic grocery bag.

  1. Hold the plastic strip firmly at one end. Then grasp the plastic strip between the thumb and fingers of your other hand.
  2. Quickly pull your top hand up so that the plastic strip runs through your fingers. Do this three or four times.
  3. Allow the strip to hang down. Then bring your other hand near it.

Expected results:  The plastic will be attracted to your hand and move toward it. Students may notice that the plastic is also attracted to their arms and sleeves.When two materials are rubbed together in a static electricity activity, one material tends to lose electrons while the other material tends to gain electron. In this activity, human skin tends to lose electrons while the plastic bag , made of polyethylene, tends to gain electrons.

Explore

  1. What happens when a rubbed plastic strip is held near a desk or chair?  (Expected results: The plastic moves toward the desk. After pulling the plastic between their fingers, the plastic gains extra electrons and a negative charge. The desk has the same number of protons as electrons and is neutral. When the plastic gets close to the desk, the negatively charged plastic repels (pushes away) electrons on the surface of the desk. This makes the surface of the desk near the plastic slightly positive. The negatively charged plastic is attracted to this positive area, so the plastic moves toward it.)
  2. What happens when two plastic strips are held near each other?  (Expected results: The strips will move away or repel each other. Since both strips have extra electrons on them, they each have extra negative charge. Since the same charges repel one another, the strips move away from each other.)

 

Electrical Circuits

In order for electricity to flow, it must follow a complete path through a circuit. A circuit starts at the source of the electricity and ends at an output device where the electricity is used or released. A switch controls the current as it flows through the circuit. For example, a circuit can start at a battery (source) and flow through a copper wire and a switch until it reaches a light bulb (output device) and back again to the battery. The electricity that flows through a circuit is current electricity. It can only flow through closed circuits, meaning there are no gaps or breaks in the path. A broken path is called an open circuit. Electrical current is measured in units called amperes. It is measured in amps.

Big Ideas

  • Electric current is energy created by the movement of electrons.
  • External energy or force must be enough to move the electrons out of orbit.
  • A closed circuit is a closed loop allowing electrical current to flow along a complete path.

Give it a Try – Exploring Circuits

Students work in small groups (2-3 students) to explore the different types of circuits – simple, series, and parallel.  Encourage them to work together to light the bulb(s).  Materials needed are:  a battery (I like to use 9 volt batteries), a minimum of four test leads or wires (I like ones with alligator clamps on each end), and at least two bulbs with sockets.

Simple Circuit

Draw a diagram of a electrical circuit that will light up just one bulb using a battery, two wires, and one light bulb.

Series Circuit

Draw a diagram of an electrical circuit that will light up two bulbs.  This time, use one battery, two bulbs, and three wires.  What happens when you unscrew one of the bulbs?     Does the brightness of the bulbs change as more bulbs are added?  

Parallel Circuit

Draw a diagram of an electrical circuit that will light up two bulbs.  Use one battery, two bulbs, and three wires. What happens when you unscrew one of the bulbs? Does the brightness of the bulbs change as more bulbs are added?

Take it Further

  • Add a switch to easily turn the lights on/off.
  • Create diagrams with appropriate symbols for the circuits we created above.

 

basics electricity

Extension Activities

  • Review or introduce the concepts discussed here with the PowerPoint Presentation shown above.
  • Have students apply their understanding of protons and electrons to explain what happens when a charged balloon is brought near pieces of paper.
  • Demonstrate how electrons can attract a stream of water.
  • Set up a series circuit with one battery, two bulbs, and three wires.  Now, remove one bulb.  In its place test a variety of materials by touching the ends of the wires to the test material. Create a list of  materials that allowed the electrons to flow through the current (conductors) and those that do not (insulators).
  • Experiment with Squishy Circuits.
  • Can you use a lemon as a battery?  Give it a try!

 

Subscribers will receive the link to the free 15 page powerpoint presentation shown above.


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