Levitating Orb

Camp-in-a-Box 2021

Everything around you is made of different types of atoms and atoms are made of several different teeny-tiny parts, too!  One of these parts is called electrons.  When you rub a balloon on your hair, some of the electrons from your hair JUMP over to the balloon.  That means the balloon now has too many electrons (and a negative charge) and your hair now has too few electrons (and a positive charge).   When things have opposite charges, like one is positive and one is negative, they stick together! 

But what happens when two things have the same charge? Instead of sticking to each other, they get pushed apart and we can use that to make tinsel fly!

For this activity, you will need:
Tinsel strands
A piece of wool fabric
A piece of PVC pipe, 18″ to 24″ long

  1. Lay 6 strands of tinsel down on a table.  Tie a knot at both ends, with the knots 4 to 6 inches apart.
  2. Trim off the long tails from both ends.
  3. Put the wool fabric over one shoulder, hold the tinsel by one of the knots with that same hand and the PVC pipe with the other hand.
  4. Rub the pipe against the wool while you count to 25. Some of the electrons from the wool are jumping over to the pipe.
  5. Touch the tinsel with the pipe. This makes some of the electrons from the pipe jump to the tinsel.  Now both the tinsel and the pipe have the same charge and like charges will push away from each other!
  6. Now rub the pipe against the wool again to get more electrons onto the pipe.
  7. Ready for the trick?
  8. Hold your pipe out in front of you, about waist high, and hold your tinsel out a couple of feet above the pipe.
  9. Now drop your tinsel onto the pipe!

As the tinsel drops towards the pipe, the extra electrons in both the tinsel and the pipe repel each other. Even the individual strands of the tinsel will push away from each other, turning them into a flying ball!

Did your tinsel stick to your pipe instead?  No worries!  This trick is tricky to master!  Keep trying!  If you get frustrated, set it aside for awhile, even a day or two, and then try again.  If you keep trying, we promise you’ll get it!