Dear Reader,
Happy 2015! Br-r-r-r! It’s been cold in San Diego. Hope you’re staying warm!
During the lull that comes with the winter holidays, I worked tirelessly to convert Surfnetkids.com to its new design. Although my to-do list is still full of items to fix, the new design is now live. Not all has gone smoothly, however, and the last few days there have been some hiccups with the server. I’m still working on tracking down the gremlins and banishing them! Let me know you find anything broken or odd at Surfnetkids.
See ya on the Net,
Barbara J. Feldman
“Surfing the Net with Kids”
https://www.surfnetkids.com
Static Electricity
https://www.surfnetkids.com/resources/static-electricity/
Static Electricity Printable(** for Premium Members only)
https://www.surfnetkids.com/printables/files/printables-club/static-electricity.pdf
Has your hair ever stood out from your head after pulling off a wool cap? That’s the result of static electricity. In their usual state, the atoms are electrically neutral because they contain an equal number of positive protons and negative electrons. But when two materials rub together (like your hair and your cap) some of the electrons jump from one thing to the other, creating an electric charge called static electricity.
Energy Story: Resistance and Static Electricity
In addition to the static electricity that occurs between objects we can hold, lightning is also a form of static electricity. “Clouds become negatively charged as ice crystals inside the clouds rub up against each other. Meanwhile, on the ground, the positive charge increases. The clouds get so highly charged that the electrons jump from the ground to the cloud, or from one cloud to another cloud. This causes a huge spark of static electricity in the sky that we call lightning.”
PBS Learning Media: Static Electricity: Snap, Crackle, Jump
In this video from the PBS science show ZOOM, a vinyl record is rubbed on a wool scarf and then the record “magically” lifts breakfast cereal right out of its bowl! After watching the video, click on Support Materials to read an article about static electricity and more about the experiment shown in the video. “When rubbed with a wool scarf, the surface of a vinyl record picks up extra electrons from the scarf. If the charged record is placed over puffy rice cereal, the electrically neutral cereal pieces become polarized. Because opposite charges attract, the negatively charged record lifts the positively charged ends of the cereal pieces.”
PhET: Balloons and Static Electricity
This interactive experiment from the University of Colorado at Boulder shows the effect of rubbing a balloon against a wool sweater. You can do the experiment with one or two balloons, add a wall to your experiment, and change which of the charges are displayed. Be sure to move your charged balloons around between the sweater and the wall, and watch what happens.
… Click to continue to Static Electricity
Printables Club Members Also Get …
Surfnetkids Printables Club Members also get the following printables to use in the classroom, the computer lab, the school library, or to send home with students:
Static Electricity Printable
Static Electricity Wikipedia Printable
Lightning Printable
*** Are you curious? Get your own ten-day trial membership:
https://www.surfnetkids.com/printables-club.htm
Related Games
Quote of the Week
“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.” ~~ Mark Twain ~~ (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910) American American humorist, writer. Read more at: http://www.lightafire.com/quotations/authors/mark-twain/
Surfing the Calendar
National Bird DayJan 5, 2015
First U.S. Presidential ElectionJan 7, 1789
Elvis Presley’s BirthdayJan 8, 1935
War On Poverty AnniversaryJan 8, 1964
International Thank You DayJan 11, 2015
Ratification DayJan 14, 1784
American Revolutionary War EndedJan 14, 1784
Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley’s First Snowflake PhotographJan 15, 1885
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s BirthdayJan 15, 1929
Dr. Dian Fossey’s BirthdayJan 16, 1932
Ben Franklin’s BirthdayJan 17, 1706
Operation Desert Storm BeginsJan 17, 1991
A. A. Milne (Author of Winnie-the-Pooh) BirthdayJan 18, 1882
Martin Luther King DayJan 19, 2015
Edgar Allan Poe’s BirthdayJan 19, 1809