Exploring Forces - Static Electricity

TYPE: Short Activities
AUDIENCE: Ages 4 - Adult
TOPIC: Motion and Forces
In this activity, learners discover that electrostatic forces cause smaller balls to be suspended in a tube while larger ones fall to the bottom.
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DESCRIPTION

"Exploring Forces - Static Electricity" is a hands-on activity in which visitors discover that electrostatic forces cause smaller balls to be suspended in a tube while larger ones fall to the bottom. They learn that size can affect the way a material behaves.

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  • Person looking at a thick test tube filled with static charged styrofoam beads
  • Person looking at a thick test tube filled with static charged styrofoam beads

DESCRIPTION

"Exploring Forces - Static Electricity" is a hands-on activity in which visitors discover that electrostatic forces cause smaller balls to be suspended in a tube while larger ones fall to the bottom. They learn that size can affect the way a material behaves.

JUMP TO BROWSE RELATED RESOURCES

TRAINING VIDEOS

OBJECTIVES

BIG IDEA

A material can act differently when it's nanometer-sized

LEARNING GOALS

  • A material can act differently when it's nanometer-sized.

  • Different physical forces dominate when things get very, very small

NANO CONTENT MAP

Nanometer-sized things are very small, and often behave differently than larger things do.

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TYPE:
Educational Resources
AUDIENCE:
Ages 4 - Adult
LANGUAGES:
English Spanish
ADDITIONAL TOPICS: Engineering and Technology Nanotechnology Physical Sciences Electricity and Magnetism Motion and Forces
KIT: Purple NanoDays logo - the Biggest Event for the Smallest Science Browse kit
KEYWORDS:

Credits

YEAR CREATED
2010
PROJECT
OWNING INSTITUTION

Sciencenter

FUNDING

Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

PERMISSIONS

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

NISE Network products are developed through an iterative collaborative process that includes scientific review, peer review, and visitor evaluation in accordance with an inclusive audiences approach. Products are designed to be easily edited and adapted for different audiences under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. To learn more, visit our Development Process page.