MAGIC TAPE EXPERIMENT:

In this experiment you can force electrons from tape to pass to and from a table! You can't really see the electrons, but you can definitely see the affects. You can also test the charge of any object using this method.

Materials:

  • 2 film cans
  • Clay
  • 4 flexible straws
  • Scotch tape
  • Comb

Procedure:

  1. Fill 2 film cans about _ full of clay.

  2. Put 2 straws side by side in each of the film cans. Push them into the clay.

  3. Bend the flexible end of the straw so the ends are horizontal.

  4. Face the horizontal part of the straws away from each other in opposite directions. Like a TV antenna.

  5. Tear of 2 pieces of tape 3 inches long. Press the onto a flat table. Put them near the edge so that a small piece of tape is hanging off.

  6. Grab the piece of tape haning off the table quickly rip it of fthe table.

  7. Stick a piece of tape onto the "arm" of one of the straws so the tape dangles down. Do the same to the other piece of tape and the other straw.

  8. You should now have 2 film cans, each with 2 straws sticking up. One of the straws in each container should have tape on it hanging downward.

  9. Now, put the cans next to each other, about 6 inches apart. Move and turn the cans so the pieces of tape get close together iwht their flat sides facing each other.

Conclusion:

See how the pieces of tape repel each other? Both are "charged" with the same type of charge, either negative or positive. This happened by the jumping of negative charges, or electrons, from the tape to the table. The tape lost electrons and the table gained them.