Science Club - Investigating Static Electricity

In Science Club, future physicists were exposed to various investigations. Students observed Electrostatic levitation demonstration by our wonderful technician Ms Grigorova. Students learnt that electrostatic levitation is the process of using an electric field to levitate a charged object and counteract the effects of gravity. Students also got to create their own shapes to levitate.

Students then had the opportunity to create their own levitating orb using knowledge of static electricity! There were some magical sights! Future physicists had many options to investigate further. For example, using different kind of bags, different materials, how long does the static charge last and how they can make it last longer.

Last practical opportunity was to build their own electroscope. Future physicists made two holes near the bottom of a polystyrene cup and pushed a plastic straw through both holes in the cup. They then attached an aluminium ball to a string and taped the string to the tip of the straw. Following, they rubbed one of the materials using a piece of cloth before placing it near the electroscope and watched the distance moved by the aluminium ball. The larger the distance, the more static electricity it produces! 

A huge thank you to our wonderful Y12 students,  Aorela, Selin and Ibrahim for their help!