Fun with Electricity

Materials:

Pickle,AC power cord,Thick copper wire. how do you do it?

Cut and strip the power cord. Wrap together the neutral and ground wires. Cut the live wire about 6 inches shorter than the neutral/ground. This will reduce accidental shorts.Cut 2 pieces of thick copper wire, about 3 inches long I used a piece pulled from a household electrical wire (the kind that go in the wall)Stick the wires in the pickleConnect the AC power cord to the copper wires. I've used a cheap set of jumper cables between the power cord and the pickle. Plug the power cord into an electrical outlet.Wait for the pickle to glow. It took about 10 seconds to get going.Unplug everything.

what's happening?

The sodium in the pickle burns yellow. Yellow street lights are sodiumvapor lamps.

experiment 3:make a lightening

Materials

Rubber glove,Plastic fork,Tin Foil,Wood or plastic cutting board,Styrofoam plate or rubber balloon,Head of hair or wool,Cool.

what's happening?

Fold tin foil around your plastic fork so that it looks like a big spatula. Make sure it’s as flat as possible with no sharp corners.Put on the rubber glove and use your gloved hand to rub the

Styrofoam plate or rubber balloon on your hair or wool.Place the plate or balloon on your cutting board, and use the gloved hand to pick up your tin foil spatula.Place the tin foil part of your spatula on the balloon or plate. Touch the foil with your other hand. What happened? How can

you explain what you saw?

Pull the spatula up from the balloon or plate, and touch it again. What happened this time? Did

you expect that?

Experiment with other materials. Recharge your charged object using your hair or wool if necessary. Does your hand spark when it touches the balloon? Why do you think this is so??? You’re experimenting with static electricity. The static electricity you see is caused by the movement of electrons. Electrons carry a negative electrical charge, which causes them to be attracted to protons and repelled from...