Cabigan, Lady Lee T.

Static Electricity Lab

BSECE – 1B Engr. Ramon P. Flores

Static Electricity Lab

Materials;
1) scraps of paper from a hole punch
2) Plastic Rulers
3) Balloons
4) Scotch Tape
5) A Comb
6) Lightweight string
7) Salt & pepper

Lab 1- Observing electrical force...

Procedure:
1) Place 15-20 scraps of paper from a hole punch on the table.
2) Take a plastic ruler and rub it with a piece of wool.
3) Bring the ruler close to the pieces of paper.
4) Observe the effect the ruler has on the scraps of paper.
Questions
1) What happens to the pieces of paper when the ruler is brought close to them?
The ruler attracted some of the paper bits and made contact with it.
2) What happens to the pieces of paper when that come in contact with the ruler?
Some of the pieces of paper eventually fell off or being repelled right after having
a contact with the ruler.
3) Did you observe any unexpected results, when the ruler was brought close to the
paper scraps?
If so, describe these results.
It is amazing that ruler can attract pieces of paper by just rubbing the ruler to
the wool.
Critical thinking:
1) When the ruler and the wool are rubbed together, the ruler gains electrons.
a. what is the charge on the ruler? Negatively charged.
b. what is the charge on the wool? Positively charged.
2) What is the charge on the pieces of paper on the table? Electrically neutral.
3) What happens to the negative charges in the piece of paper when the ruler is
brought next to
them? It is being repelled by the plastic ruler that is negatively charged.
4) Can a negative object attract a negative object? Why or why not? Negative object
cannot attract another negative object. Like charges repel.
5) Can a negative object attract a neutral object? Yes.
6) What force is acting on the pieces of paper before the ruler is brought close to them?
Gravitational force and normal force.
7) What can you infer about the electrical force compared to gravity, when the ruler is
placed next
to the pieces of paper? Initially, the forces acting on the paper are gravitational
force and normal force which are in balance. As the charged plastic ruler was
brought near the pieces of paper, it introduces an electrical force and the forces
acting on the pieces of paper were no longer balanced.
Lab 2 - Observing static electricity on a balloon.
Procedure 1:
1) Blow up two balloons.
2) Rub each balloon in your hair for about 30 to 45 seconds.
3) Place the balloons next to each other without touching them together.
4) Observe the interaction of the balloons.
Analysis:
1) Each balloon gained electrons from your hair.
a. what was the charge on each balloon? Both negatively charged.
b. what was the charge on your hair? Positively charged.
2) What happened when you placed the charged balloons next to each other? The
two balloons will move away or repel from each other as both of them are
negatively charged.
3) Did you notice anything happening to your hair when you charged the balloons? If
so, describe
what happened, and explain why it did? Strands of my hair had sticking up to the
balloon. As the electrons has moved from my hair going to the balloon when I
rubbed it together, my hair was left with a positive charge and the balloon
became negatively charged. When I moved away the balloon from my hair,
strands of my hair were attracted to the balloons as they have unlike charges.
Procedure 2
1) Charge up one of the balloons again with your hair.
2) Place the balloon against the wall.
3) Observe what happens.
Analysis
1.) What was the charge of the wall? Electrically neutral.
2.) What happens to the negative charges in the wall when the balloon is brought near
them? It repels some of the negatively charged electrons in the specific part of
the wall where the balloon was placed.
3.) What did you observe when you placed the balloon against the wall? As the
negative charges on the wall was being repelled due to the negative charges on
the balloon, positive charges on the specific part of the wall where the balloon
was brought have stayed. The positive charges on the wall and the negative
charges on the balloon attract each other resulting the balloon to stick on the
wall.
Critical Thinking
1) What happens when two negative charged balloons are placed next to each other?
They repel each other due to the like charges.
2) What happens when two positively charged hairs are next to each other? The hairs
try to move away from each other.
3) Can a negative charged balloon attract a neutrally charged wall? Yes.
4) What two forces are acting on the balloon when it is stuck to the wall and which is
stronger? The two forces are electrostatic force and gravitational force. The
electrostatic force or the attractive forces between the balloon and the wall is
much stronger compared to the gravitational force.

Lab 3- Using Tape to explore electric charges.

Procedure 1:
1) Fold over about 5 mm on the end of the tape for a handle.
2) Then tear off a strip 8 to 10 cm long.
3) Stick the strip on a dry smooth surface, such as a lab table.
4) Repeat the procedure with a second strip of tape.
5) Rub each of the piece of tape into the table for 1 minute.
6) Quickly pull both strips off the table and bring them next to each other.
7) Observe what happens.
Analysis:
1) What is true about the charges on each piece of tape, since they both were prepared
the same
way? Both of the tape strips have gained electrons from the table.
2) What did you observe when they were placed next to each other? As the tape
strips are both negatively charged, they repel each other.
3) Since both strips gained electrons from the table, what was their charge? Both of
the strips are negatively charged.
Procedure 2:
1) Stick one strip of tape on the desk and place the second strip on top of the first.
2) Pull the two strips of tape of together at the same time.
3) Rub the strips of tape with your fingers, until they are no longer attracted to your
hand.
4) Quickly pull the two strips apart.
5) Put the strips of tape next to each other.
6) Observe what happens.
Analysis
1) What did you observe? The two strips of tape attract each other.
2) Why did the strips behave the way they did? When they were on top of each
other, one of them became positively charged and the other one became
negatively charged.
Critical Thinking
1) What happens when two negatively charged tape strips are placed near each other?
The strips will move away or repel to each other.
2) What happens when a negatively charge tape strip is placed next to a positively
charged tape
strip? They stick together or attract each other.
3) What would happen if a negatively charged tape strip was placed next to a tape
strip that was
neutral? The negatively charged strip and the neutral strip will attract each other.

Lab 4- charging a comb

Procedure 1:
1) Charge up two tape strips to give them opposite charges.
2) Stick the handle of each strip to the edge of a table.
3) Rub a comb through your hair and bring it near the end of one strip and then the
other
4) Observe what happens.
Critical Thinking
1) The comb gains electrons, so what charged does it acquire? Negatively charge.
2) Why did the pieces of tape behave the way they did when they were brought near
the comb? As the comb is negatively charged, the positively charged tape strips
move closer or gets attracted to the comb while negatively tape strip move away
or being repelled to the comb.
3) Which piece of tape is negative (the top or bottom)? Bottom.
4) Which piece of tape is positive (the top or bottom)? Top.
5) What would have happened if the comb used was neutral and had no charge? Both
of the tape strips would still be attracted to the comb that has no charge or
neutral as any charged object - whether positively charged or negatively
charged - will have an attractive interaction with a neutral object.
Procedure: Dancing Balloon
1. Blow up 2 balloons and tie each one closed. Tie a long thread or string onto the end
of each balloon.
2. Give each balloon a static charge by rubbing it with your hair as in part A.
3. Hold each balloon by the end of the thread and try to bring the balloons close to
each other. What
happens? Why? As I rubbed the two balloons to my hair, both of them have
gained electrons from my hair that makes both of them be negatively charged.
As I brought them close to each other, they will eventually repel to each other
due to their charges. The two balloons are both negatively charge and like
charges do repel.
Procedure: Salt and Pepper
1) Sprinkle some salt onto a plate or tabletop.
2) Bring a charged balloon near the salt. What happens? Why? The salt jumps up
and sticks to the balloon as the balloon is negatively charged and the salt is
neutral.
3) Then, sprinkle some pepper onto the table so that you have a mixture of salt and
pepper. How
do you think you might be able to separate the salt from the pepper? With the use of
the charged balloons.
4) Bring your charged balloon near the pile of salt and pepper particles. What
happens? Which
pieces were picked up more easily? Is this a good way to separate salt and pepper if
they accidentally get mixed? When the charged balloon was brought near the
mixture of salt and pepper, the pepper eventually jumps up and sticks to the
balloon leaving the salt behind. The reason why the pepper was picked up easily
is because of its weight. Pepper is much lighter than the salt that was left behind.
I can say that it can be a good way to separate pepper and salt than separating
those two manually with the use of bare hands as it will take us a lot of time.