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Answers to Readers' Questions on Physical Science:

Static Electricity

The following 237 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.

List of first 10 items

• Third grader doing science fair experiment
• Why aren't metal good for statc electricity?
• What effect does static electricity have on matter?
• Does lightning come from the cloud or the ground?
• Stick papers to notice board
• Explain AC and DC for my project
• Negative effect of static electricity in daily lives
• What is a "static cling"?
• Can two positive charges ever attract each other?
• Questions on static electricity

Next 10

Third grader doing science fair experiment

Question

January 7, 2010

My third grade daughter is doing a science fair project. She was tired of static cling and wanted to know what type of material would produce the least. She's got three squares of materials (100% cotton, 100% polyester, 80/20 polyester/cotton blend). She's rubbed a separate balloon on each fabric five times, then pressed the balloon to the fabric and timed how long they stay attached. She needs to do three trials. Here are the results:

Trial One:
Cotton -- did not cling
Polyester -- 1 second
Blend -- 8 minutes

Touched skin to surface of all cloth and balloons, move to Trial Two.
Trial Two:
Cotton -- didn't cling
Polyester -- 1 hour 20 minutes
Blend -- gave up after 3 hours (!)

Reset the surfaces
Trial Three:
Could not get the balloons to stick to any of the cloths.

I'm at a loss to explain to her why we went from having to wait for three hours (and giving up) to not being able to stick the balloon any longer. I also have no idea why the polyester/cotton blend fabric is creating more static than the 100% polyester since the cotton should be neutral. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Joe - USA

18993

Answer

That is a good experiment, especially since you tried several items several times.

In such an experiment, your goal was to see which material stuck the most or least, under different conditions. It doesn't require or show why the results were different, although you can make some educated guesses.

When you touched the surfaces for Trial Two, you changed something, such that the times were different. Either you drained off excess electrons into your body or you added electrons from your body. It is difficult or impossible to tell which.

With the third trial, just the opposite probably happened, causing things to fail. For example, if you drained electrons into your body in Trial Two, you may have added extra electrons after you touched the material for Trial Three.

Good job on your experiment, and I am sure your daughter will do well in the science fair.

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Why aren't metal good for statc electricity?

Question

December 25, 2009

Why is it better not to use metals to create static electricity?

- USA

18924

Answer

Static electricity primarily consists of electrical charges on the surface of the material. Metals and other conductors dissipate the charges into the material. That is way metals are used in electrical wire, because the charges move easily in them, as opposed to staying on the surface.

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What effect does static electricity have on matter?

Question

December 22, 2009

What effects does STATIC ELECTRICITY exactly have on matter?

- USA

18912

Answer

Static electricity primarily consists of electrical charges on the surface of nonconductors, although it can also be on the surface of nonconductors.

Static sparks can damage materials, but in general the electrical charges have little effect on most materials.

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Does lightning come from the cloud or the ground?

Question

February 7, 2009

Does lightning come from the ground up ro from the clouds to the earth? I Hope to hear from you soon :) Bye

-Jacie

Jacie - USA

17229

Answer

The clouds build up the electrical charges, such that the lightning bolt will jump from that buildup to some other object. Thus, the first bolt of from the cloud to the ground.

But then the ground can get charged from the lightning bolt and send another bolt up to the cloud. It can go back and forth several times.

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Stick papers to notice board

Question

August 28, 2008

dear sir
can i fix papers on the notice board using static electricity?
if yes how can i impliment it.
waiting for reply

abdul azeez - India

16423

Answer

The problem is that the static electricity leaks off in a short while and the papers will fall to the floor. Also, if the notice board is made of cork, the static electricity does not work well.

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Explain AC and DC for my project

Question

July 20, 2008

i am doing a project all about static electricity at my school and i am doing it in a powerpoint presentation. it really helped me but could you explain ac or dc electricity? thanks for the help.

Rebecca - UK

16287

Answer

DC or direct current electricity usually comes from electrical batteries, although there are also DC generators available. DC electricity travels directly from one terminal of the battery to the other, thus its name.

AC or alternating current electricity is only created by an AC generator. The current first moves in one direction and then changes to move in the reverse direction. It is a more effective way to power electrical devices.

Note that both AC and DC travel through a wire and require a complete circuit with a wire going from one electrical terminal to another to work.

Static electricity is the collection of electrical charges on the surface of a material that is non-conducting or conducts electricity poorly. It creates a number of unusual effects. If you create a circuit from an object with positive (+) charges to one where negative (-) charges collected on the surface, using a wire or other conducting material, static electricity will behave like DC and can even light a small bulb for a short time.

I hope this helps in your project.

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Negative effect of static electricity in daily lives

Question

June 17, 2008

I have a simple question to forward to you, Wat are the negative effect of static electricity on our daily basis.

alexander - Namibia

16099

Answer

Static electricity does not bother most people. But some people have problems with getting static electric shocks, especially in dry climates. Others may find their clothes sticking to them, especially synthetic fibers.

A positive effect is that static electricity is used in copy machines to make copies. It is also used in some air filters.

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What is a "static cling"?

Question

April 10, 2008

What would you recommend for someone with a "static cling"? And while you're answering that, you might as well answer a REAL science question: What is a "static cling"?

Dezi - USA

15709

Answer

Static cling is when certain clothes seem to cling to your body or cling to each other. This can be seen when clothes, such as made of nylon or synthetic materials are taken from the clothes dryer. It also happens when wearing such clothes.

See our lesson on Static Cling for more information.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_cling.htm

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Can two positive charges ever attract each other?

Question

April 4, 2008

can two positive charges ever attract each other under any circumstance?

akshatha - India

15651

Answer

The Laws of Physics state that positive electrical charges repel each other. They typically cannot attract each other. But there seems to be some special cases involving like-charged biomolecule ions attracting each other.

See: http://www.aip.org/pnu/2003/split/650-2.html for an explanation.

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Questions on static electricity

Question

March 29, 2008

How can static electricity be used to control pollution?

How does an electroscope work to detect static electricity?

What happens t electrons during a lightning storm

Shaddy - Australia

15630

Answer

You need to look at the other static electricity lessons. Your questions are answered in:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_uses.htm

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_detection.htm

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_sparks.htm

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