Aquila Children's Magazine The Electric Issue | Page 7

Little lightni
ng will give yo
u
a static shoc
k similar to w
hat
you can get
from touching
a
shopping trol
ley – however
, as
it will create
a spark mak
e sure
you do this ex
periment aw
ay
from any fuel
such as petr
ol, gas
or a cloud of
flour.
Little lightning can be made by
creating static electricity. This is when
you have an unbalanced charge on the
surface or inside an object. The static
charge will stay until you discharge
it…with a little lightning bolt.
1
If you need to break your
polystyrene block, stick a piece
of tape around the edges so that
it doesn’t leave a trail of static
charged white beads around your
house!
2
Ask an adult to cut a small piece
off your polystyrene block. This
will become the handle of your
foil dish.
6 Lift your foil dish by the
polystyrene handle. Hold
it about 50 cm above the
polystyrene block and let it
drop onto it.
3
Use sticky tape to attach the handle to the
middle of the foil dish. Do not use glue because
it might cause the polystyrene to break down
and release some nasty fumes. Always use the
handle to move the foil dish, do not touch the
tray with your fingers. The aluminium contains
free electrons (negative charge), which will flow
away from anything that has a negative charge.
5 Place your polystyrene
block on the table so that
the rubbed surface is
pointing upwards.
4
Rub the remaining polystyrene block on your
hair until your hair is being attracted to it. You
have transferred weakly bound electrons from
your hair to the polystyrene, so that it is now
relatively negatively charged.
7 Now slowly touch the foil dish
with your finger. Did you feel it?
Some of the free electrons in the
metal tray tried to get as far as
possible from the electrons on
the polystyrene block. The easiest
route was through your finger!
8 Now lift the foil dish by
the handle again. Touch the
tray again. This time, it is
relatively positively charged.
It needs more electrons to
become neutral again so
it attracts them from your
hand and you get another
static shock!
There is a wonderful website
9 Repeat the process. If it runs
for tracking storms in real-time:
www.lightningmaps.org
out, you can rub the polystyrene
block on your hair again to create
more static.
10 Now try it in the dark – can
you see your lightning? Why not
try to capture it on film and send
us a clip?
Lightning strikes appear as a red dot
with a circle heading out around them,
this represents where the thunder can be
heard. It fades from view as the thunder
gets too faint to hear. Try it next time
there is a storm near you!
WIN AN ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM KIT!
WIN an Electricity & Magnetism experiment kit worth
£54.99 from our friends at BrightMinds.co.uk! These cool
kits will assist you in learning how a compass works, making
an invisible magnetic field and building your very own
loudspeaker! To be in with a chance of winning one of 5 sets
all you have to do is match these three super scientists
with their area of expertise:
1 Space science
2 Paleontology
3 Physical chemistry
A Mary Anning
B Rosalind Elsie Franklin
C Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Closing Date: Monday 4 December 2017
5
kits to be
won
Please send your answer on the back of an envelope with
your name, address and contact number on the inside to:
AQUILA Electric Kit Competition, Studio 2, 67a Willowfield
Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 8AP
You must be an AQUILA subscriber to enter our competitions. Class entries accepted if the school subscribes.
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