You may think you know static electricity, but its true nature has long eluded scientists. We’ve now made a huge leap towards ...

As humans we often think we have a pretty good handle on the basics of the way the world works, from an intuition about ...

Today, we know what static electricity is, created through different acts. This is ironic since some animals, like ticks, use the electrical charge for better adhesion to their hosts.

Discover the fascinating world of static electricity with simple balloon experiments. Learn about electrical charges, attraction and repulsion through fun hands-on demonstrations. Home; News. ...

In 600 BCE, Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus noticed that when he rubbed fur on amber, the fur attracted dust. That tiny ...

Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive electrical charges in an object, according to the U.S. Library of Congress.These charges can amass on an object's ...

Squishy materials reveal new physics of static electricity . How objects charge when touched depends on their history, scientists find . A balloon rubbed on hair will pick up a negative charge, ...

If you rub a balloon against your clothes or wear socks on a carpet, you may feel a light shock. This is due to built-up static electricity, which is an imbalance of electric charges between two ...

You can have some fun with static electricity! Take an inflated balloon and rub it on your hair. Then put the balloon just above your hair. Nice hairdo! Now, try touching the balloon on other objects.

Since the balloon and the plastic have the same static charge, they repel each other and stay apart. The plastic is heavy enough to fall down toward the balloon but the repulsion from the static ...

Step 4: Watch as pepper jumps onto the balloon due to static electricity This experiment highlights static electricity and positive and negative charges. Most objects do not have a charge, they ...

The researchers noted humans may often notice these charges when experiencing an electric shock, like after rubbing a balloon on their hair or jumping on a trampoline, but animals in nature can ...