static electricity ball experiments

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What you need:

• Plasma Ball (available at toy stores and online)
• Fluorescent Light Tube
• Wooden chair or stool to stand on (or anything not metal)
• Turn off the lights so that you can see the plasma ball glowing.
• Put your hand on the plasma ball. What happens?
• Now bring the fluorescent light tube close to the plasma ball. What happens?
• This step requires a friend, so have one close by and ready to help. Stand on the chair or stool and put your hand on the ball. Now have your friend hand you the light tube. Do you see it light up? What happens if your friend lets go? Be careful to not touch the ends of the light tube – it gets hot!
• Put a penny on the top of the plasma ball. Carefully touch the penny with another penny. Don’t use your finger – you’ll get a shock!

What’s going on?

The plasma ball is a miniature Tesla coil. Inside the ball is a coil of wires that have electrons going through them oscillating at a very high frequency. This shakes the atoms around the wires so hard that their electrons start to fall off! Inside the glass globe is a partial vacuum. This just means that some of the air has been sucked out. Because there is not as much air in there, it is easier to make electric sparks that can be seen.

The electrons then travel out into the air from the glass ball. We know this because the plasma ball lights up the light bulb. If you touch the plasma ball, all of the electrons will go through you to the ground. You see only one big spark inside the ball where you put your hand. If you stand on a stool, you are insulated from the ground and get filled with electrons. This means you can light up a fluorescent light bulb!

Six Fun Static Electricity Experiments for Science Students

Krystal DeVille

December 18, 2023

Electricity is a large part of our daily lives. Without it, we would be able to engage in any activities.

We often don’t know exactly how precious it is until we experience a power outage. Electricity doesn’t just involve currents- it also allows individuals to move, think and feel. We explore several different static electricity experiments that illustrate what this natural phenomenon can do.

Table of Contents

Experiments Using Static Electricity

Experiments using static are fun. When most people consider experiments using static electricity, then envision the one involving hair and a balloon. However, many additional experiments will amaze children of any age and can effectively also illustrate how physics and chemistry are used in creating illusions.

*Warning: These experiments may debunk some well-known magic tricks!

Before we get into all the static electricity experiments, be sure to grab my free eBook with over 25 STEM experiments for kids. For all my free downloads, check out this page here.

1. Static Electricity Butterfly

• Age: Elementary school
• Time: 15 minutes
• Difficulty Level: Easy

This experiment demonstrates how static electricity can move the wings on a tissue paper butterfly. 

• Googly eyes
• Cardstock paper
• Tissue paper

Instructions:

• Begin by cutting a square piece of cardboard into a 7″x 7″ square.
• Draw butterfly wings on a piece of tissue with a pencil. Make sure that it is smaller than your square. Cut the butterfly out and place them on the cardboard piece without gluing it.
• Cut the body of the butterfly using cardstock. Once finished, glue it to the middle of the butterfly. Make sure it overlaps the cardboard to prevent the wings from flying off. The wings need to be loose to demonstrate the effects of static electricity.
• Glue googly eyes on the butterfly. You can use pipe cleaners for antennae if you would like.
• Blow up the balloon.
• Rub the balloon on your hair to provide a static (electrical charge). Hold the balloon to the top of the butterfly. It should be close to it but shouldn’t touch the butterfly. You should see the wings lower and raise as the balloon is moved closer and further in distance. 

The Science Behind the Experiment

When a balloon is rubbed on hair, electrons form. Electrons go from the hair and are given to the balloon generating static. When a negatively charged balloon comes into close contact with positively charged tissue, they generate an attraction. The pull of the charged attraction enables the paper to move towards the balloon.

Static electricity experiments are fun to do. It incorporates both the principles of physics and chemistry into something very simple. It is the perfect way to engage any child in STEM education while teaching them that learning can indeed be fun.

2. Flying Bag Experiment

• Age: Any age
• Time: A few minutes

No, this isn’t done by using an updraft of air but with static electricity. This is what levitates the bag into the air.

• Light plastic bag
• Piece of material
• Plastic Rod
• Use the piece of cloth to run the plastic rod’s surface for 40 seconds.
• Flatten a plastic bag. Then rub the piece of fabric against the bag’s surface for 40 seconds.
• Release the bag and watch while it levitates in the air while the rod is waved below.

The fabric and rod become negatively charged after rubbing them together. Like charges are known to repel each other, so the bag appears to repel when the wand is waved.

My kids loved all the microscope activities we did hands-on in this article. It’s a great way of opening the world to what they can’t see!

3. Hovering Plates

• Age: Elementary School

Using magnets is not the only way that items can repel each other. Hovering plates illustrates this concept very well.

• 2 Styrofoam plates
• Piece of fabric, or your shirt
• Using the piece of fabric, rub the base of one plate.
• Put the plate (base up) on any flat surface.
• Attempt to place the other plate (base down) on top of the other plate. The two plates will repel each other.

This experiment works based on the principle of static electricity. This occurs when two things are rubbed together. The one plate receives electrons directly from the fabric and then becomes negatively charged. In turn, the electrons generated repel the other plate.

4. Bending Water Using Static Electricity

In nature, water can bend due to the moon exerting tidal forces. The same phenomenon can be accomplished by using static electricity.

• Running water
• Piece of cloth
• Plastic Rod or thick straw. My son used a smoothie straw like this because it’s thicker and works a little better.
• Use the fabric to rub the surface of the rod for 40 seconds.
• Create a stream of water by turning the tap on.
• Place the rod close to the water and watch with amazement as the stream bends.

This experiment can also be done using a comb. It would be best if you rubbed the comb against your hair for it to work. Then, you can use it to bend water.

Rubbing the material on the rod generates negatively charged ions. This repels the electrons found in the water. The water closest to the positioning of the rod receives positive charges from it. The attraction between positive and negative charges creates a force on the water, allowing it to appear as if it were bending.

5. Separating Pepper and Salt

Have you accidentally spilled both the salt and pepper? Here is a convenient way to separate them and sort through this lovely mess!

• Fabric or your shirt
• Thick straw
• Mix one teaspoon of pepper and salt thoroughly. 
• Rub the straw on the fabric for 40 seconds.
• Place the straw over the mixture. The pepper should jump and adhere to the straw (if it’s held over the correct places).

The granules of pepper and salt are positively charged. As a result of gaining electrons directly from rubbing the cloth, the straw attracts these positive charges located in the mix. Since pepper is lighter, it will jump with greater ease to the straw.

6. Bubble Moving Balloon

This trick is fun and easy. It will delight young children and amaze older ones. 

• Smooth sheet plastic, glass, or a kitchen plate like we used
• Dishwashing soap or bubble solution
• Charged balloon
• Spread the bubble solution on a sheet of glass or plastic. Blow larger bubbles on the sheet with the straw. 
• Charge an object like a balloon.
• Place the object near the bubble and watch as they follow the charged object. 
• Watch it move around the glass/plastic top.

Soapy water is drawn (attracted) to any object that is charged. When there is a large bubble, you can watch it move around.

Wrapping Up

I love static electricity experiments because they can be done with stuff you have lying around your house, not especially tools required. Our favorite experiment was the butterfly one. My three-year-old pretty much thought it was magic.

Another easy item to pick up is pop rocks. My kids had a great time with all the science experiments involving the cracking, popping treat in this article. Please check out our article, Fun Pop Rock Experiments Exploring Viscosity .

5 thoughts on “Six Fun Static Electricity Experiments for Science Students”

Great ideas here with materials that are readily available.

Thank you for ideas and a wonderful resource.

Kind Regards, Jan (Grandmother – Australia)

The salt and pepper experiment mentions a spoon in the directions, but it seems like it should be a straw according to the rest if the directions.

You’re right Kathryn, and thank you for pointing that out to me! The article has been updated 🙂

In the fourth one about bending water, one of the materials say ‘piece of clot’ not cloth. Just a minor error.

Thank you, good catch! I updated it.

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Wonder of the Day #1320

How Does a Plasma Ball Work?

TECHNOLOGY — Inventions

Have You Ever Wondered...

• How does a plasma ball work?
• What kinds of gases are inside a plasma ball?

Who invented the plasma ball?

• Bill Parker ,
• chemistry ,
• electricity ,
• invention ,
• Nikola Tesla ,
• noble gas ,
• Southwest Research Institute ,
• technology ,

When you study history, do you have an appreciation for how early humans survived way back when? Hunting and gathering food in the wild must have been a big challenge. It must have been even harder for them to charge their devices without electricity !

Just kidding! Life was quite different back in the days before mobile phones and tablet computers . Today, we take these items — and the electricity that runs them — for granted. Can you imagine what a struggle it would be if you couldn't plug in just about anywhere to recharge the devices you rely upon every day?

Electricity is all around us every day, and we usually don't give much thought to it. When you learn about electricity in school, though, it can be a fun and exciting time. This is especially true if you have access to a plasma ball!

If you've ever seen one of those clear glass balls that lights up with what looks like bolts of electricity that stretch from a central orb to the place where your fingers touch the outside of the glass, then you know how cool plasma balls really are!

So what exactly is a plasma ball? Before we can answer that, let's first take a look at what plasma is. Although it sounds a bit mysterious, plasma is actually the most common form of matter in the universe! It's even more common than solids, liquids , and gases !

The Southwest Research Institute defines plasma as “a hot ionized gas containing roughly equal quantities of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons." Plasma is considered a fourth state of matter that's different from solids, liquids, and gases.

A plasma ball — also sometimes called a plasma globe, lamp, dome, or sphere — is a clear glass ball filled with a mixture of noble gases with a high- voltage electrode at its center. Plasma filaments extend from the electrode to the glass when electricity is supplied, creating fascinating beams of colored light.

The plasma ball was invented by Nikola Tesla when he was experimenting with high-frequency electric currents in a glass vacuum tube. That's why the electrode at the center of a plasma ball is also often known as a Tesla coil . The modern plasma balls popular as novelty and educational items today were first designed by Bill Parker.

The electrode at the center of a plasma ball emits a high-frequency, high- voltage alternating electric current . This current flows through the plasma filaments to create colorful tendrils of light. The colors depend upon the gases used inside the plasma ball. Common gases include neon, argon, xenon, and krypton.

If you've ever touched a plasma ball when it's on, you know that placing your finger on the glass draws a colorful strand of light to your finger. It's like creating your own personal bolt of lightning from the electrode to your finger!

This phenomenon occurs because of the conductive properties of the human body. When you touch the glass, you create a discharge path with less resistance than the surrounding glass and gases.

Wonder What's Next?

Tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day pays tribute to those who have gone before you!

Wasn't today's Wonder of the Day simply shocking? Check out the following activities with a friend or family member to learn even more:

• Curious to know more about electricity? There are a ton of fun experiments you can do right at home. Jump online to check out Energy and Electricity Experiments . Be sure to get help from an adult friend or family member. Browse through the options and choose one that looks fun and exciting. Have fun experimenting with electricity!
• Aren't plasma balls super cool? Can you capture the beauty of a plasma ball in your own work of art? Get out your art supplies and create a picture or sculpture inspired by the colorful, electric plasma ball. What colors will you use? Share your work of art with a friend or family member. Will it inspire them to learn more about plasma balls? If so, share what you've learned with them!
• Up for a challenge? If you have access to both a plasma ball and a fluorescent light bulb, you can try the Plasma Ball and Fluorescent Light Experiment . Before conducting the experiment, read the instructions thoroughly. Make predictions about what you think will happen, and then see if you guessed correctly. Share what you learn with your friends and family members!

Did you get it?

Wonder words.

• electricity
• alternating

Isamar Verduzco

Maybe i don't know but maybe...

We've never thought about it, dhruv. Great ideas, thought! 

We're not sure how to create plasma, but it sounds like you're ready for a Wonder Journey--search the Internet or visit your local library. 

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josh harris

Alan W Roberts

I've had a shock from my plasma ball. I placed a large speaker magnet on top of the globe and the filaments were atracked to the magnet. The magnet acted like a capacitor and when I put my finger near a spark jumped off the magnet to my finger.

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Isla Ramsbottom

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Karina The Magnificent

Great question, Karina! The Wonder tells us that those colorful beams are plasma filaments. "Plasma filaments extend from the electrode to the glass when electricity is supplied, creating fascinating beams of colored light." Thanks for WONDERing with us! :)

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Hi, Roisin! Sometimes it helps to retread it and then talk about with someone else. You could also keep researching at your library and online! :)

TTYL texter

Wonderopolis

We're glad you enjoyed this Wonder of the Day, TTYL texter! We think you may enjoy the following Wonders! :) #1273 What Makes a Light Bulb Light Up? #714 Why Are They Called Lava Lamps®?

Twilight Sparkle

Thank you for asking, Twilight Sparkle! We find information for our Wonders of the Day from a variety of sources, including books on the subject matter and trusted Internet websites. From time to time, we also ask experts in the field that we're WONDERing about. :)

We're so glad we could help, Alex! We know you'll do a stellar job on your science project, Wonder Friend! :D

Great question, Sean! The ball component of a plasma ball is made of glass, not plastic. We're glad you're WONDERing with us, Wonder Friend! :)

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What a great question, Rachel! You can discover more about how touch screens work in Wonder of the Day #420 ! We hope you'll check it out, Wonder Friend! :)

Nicholas M.

Thanks for WONDERing with us, Nicholas! :) At the center of a plasma ball, there's an electrode that emits a high-frequency, high-voltage alternating electric current, which flows through the plasma filaments to create colorful tendrils of light that radiate outward.

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<p class=\"FreeForm\">A fourth state of matter, separate from solids, liquids, and gases, is called what?</p>

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Which of the following is NOT a noble gas often used in plasma balls?

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