CODE NAME Electrostatic attraction DEMO # Gen.

1

REFERENCE Twenty Demonstrations Guaranteed to Knock Your Socks Off! Volume II, p. 11

EQUIPMENT balloon
bubble wand

CHEMICALS soap bubble solution

PROCEDURE Inflate the balloon and charge one side of it by rubbing it on some wool or someones
hair.

Blow a fistsized bubble and as it slowly descends bring the charged balloon close to it, from
above, and suspend the bubble in midair, balanced between the attraction of gravity and the
electrostatic attraction to the balloon. Note: the bubbles work best if they are bigger and
therefore slower to move either up or down. In addition, the first bubbles blown may be too
heavy with excess liquid and will fall too quickly to be caught.