Static Electricity

Static electricity is a natural phenomenon that children thoroughly enjoy:

1.Rubbing a balloon.
2.A comb and tissue paper.
3.Getting out of the car first in the summer can be a shocking experience.
4.A hair raising experience with a Van de Graaff generator!
5.Lightning
Static electricity is not on the National Curriculum at primary level but it is a shame to miss it out completely and it provides some important background for the children.

Electricity has always been around, long before mains electricity or batteries were invented.

The common factor with all the above examples of static electricity is that friction is involved. Early experiments were done with materials that were good at producing static electricity:

1.Glass rods were rubbed with silk.
2.Ebonite rods were rubbed with cat's fur.
Nowadays we tend to use polythene and perspex rods.