Materials Needed
- A piece of wool (a wool sweater works)
- Rubber balloon
- Water faucet
Procedures
- Blow up the balloon and tie.
- Turn on the water faucet so that there is a very small stream of water flowing from it (the smallest you can make it without getting just drips).
- Rub the balloon vigorously back and forth across the piece of wool.
- Slowly bring the balloon near the stream of water, a few inches away below the faucet. When the balloon is about an inch or less away from the stream of water, the water will bend toward the balloon.
Why is this happening?
When you rubbed the balloon on the piece of wool, you gave it a charge. A charged object attracts small particles such as dust. This is why your television screen becomes dusty faster than a cabinet. When a television operates, electrons fly within the television tube from the back to the screen. These electrons cause the screen to become charged.
The charge on the screen attracts the dust. The balloon attracted the stream of water in the same way. The charge on the balloon attracts the molecules of water in the stream. Because the molecules in the stream can be moved easily, the water bends.
