If the balloon does not stick, move to the next step. Does the balloon stay stuck on the wall? If the balloon stays stuck, have your partner immediately start the stopwatch to time how long the balloon remains bound to the wall. Hold the balloon up on the wall with the side that was rubbed against the wool facing the wall, then release it.Rub the balloon on the woolly object once, in one direction.Hold the balloon in a way that your hand covers as little of its surface area as possible, such as by using only your thumb and pointer finger or by gripping the balloon by its neck where it is tied off.

Have your partner prepare to use the stopwatch.

Blow up the balloon and tie off the end.

An object made out of wool (such as a sweater, scarf, blanket or ball of yarn).

Consequently, when you pull the balloon slowly away from your head, you can see these two opposite static charges attracting one another and making your hair stand up. Similarly, when you rub a balloon on your head it causes opposite static charges to build up both on your hair and the balloon. When you touch another person or an object, you can suddenly discharge the static as an electrical shock. For example, when you shuffle your feet across a carpet, you are creating many surface contacts between your feet and the carpet, allowing electrons to transfer to you, thereby building up a static charge on your skin. The electrons can build up to produce static electricity. This is because the rubbing creates a negative charge that is carried by electrons. When one object is rubbed against another, static electricity can be created. (Objects with the same charges repel one another.) Could enough static electricity make a balloon stick to a wall? How much do you think you would have to rub it? This happens when objects have opposite charges, positive and negative, which attract. Think of how socks fresh out of the dryer stick together. Other times, static electricity can cause objects to cling to one another. Sometimes static electricity can suddenly discharge, such as when a bolt of lightning flashes through the sky. Static electricity is the buildup of electrical charge in an object. Have you ever wondered why rubbing a balloon or a blanket-or even a winter hat-on your head makes your hair stand up? The effect is due to static electricity, but how is the static electricity made, and why does it make your hair stand on end?

Metals lost to time