ScienceVerseBalloon Static Electricity
Sign in to save this experiment.Safety first
Adult supervision requiredAn adult must be present. Children under eight can choke or suffocate on uninflated or broken balloons: keep uninflated balloons away from young children and throw away broken balloons, and every piece of them, at once. Do not use latex balloons with anyone who has a latex allergy.
Protective equipment and “do not substitute” warnings have not been recorded for this experiment yet. They are added when its safety review is completed; until then, follow the supervision notes above.
Disposal: Keep the balloon for reuse or put it in general waste; throw broken balloons away at once, picking up every piece. Tissue paper can be recycled.
Do not start this experiment until an adult who has read the supervision notes above is present.
An adult needs to be here first
The materials (4) and steps (5) for this experiment are hidden until an adult who has read the safety information above is present.
What you should see
- The tissue paper pieces jump up and cling to the balloon.
- Hair lifts up towards the balloon.
- The balloon sticks to the wall for a while before falling.
Why it works
Rubbing two different materials together moves electrons from one to the other, so one becomes negatively charged and the other positively charged. Opposite charges attract and like charges repel.
The tissue paper and the wall have no overall charge, yet they are still pulled towards the balloon. The charged balloon pushes or pulls on the charges inside them, so the side nearest the balloon gets a slight opposite charge. This is called polarisation, and it is why a charged object attracts a neutral one.
Learn the ideas behind it
Explore it further
The same ideas, as something you can change and watch on screen: