Ever been shocked by a touch of metal or had your hair stand up after pulling on a sweater? With spring approaching quickly, the final few dry days of winter are a great time to experiment with static electricity. In this kid science experiment, you can make frogs jump up onto a balloon with out touching them! My boys had fun seeing how many frogs they could make hook together and jump up to the balloon.
What you need:
- Balloon
- Tissue paper
What you do:
- Cut out frogs from the tissue paper.
- Blow up a balloon.
- Rub the balloon vigorously on hair, a wool sweater or the carpet.
- Hover balloon over frogs and watch them jump!
Why it works:
Rubbing the balloon on a your hair or carpet charges the surface with a negative charge. When you bring the balloon with its negative charge near the paper, the positive electrons on the paper are attracted to the negative electrons on the balloon. Because the paper is light enough, the electrons pull the paper up to the balloon to meet the negative electrons.
Stay Brilliant! Another fun kid science activity from ThinkStretch!
