Questions and Answers

Most of the questions I had before, I'm still confused by. In my first blog i asked "if an atom is negative or positive, does that mean the object it makes up is also negative or positive?" I now know that all objects are neutral until charged by another object. This helps me understand why we get shocked, like during the Van De Graff demonstration. It also helps me understand how the balloon was able to pick up the pieces of paper. I still have some questions; When you charge an abject by rubbing it against something else, how do you know which one will gain the positive or negative charge? I'm also still confused by many of the questions I had before, like how an atom is so powerful. I also wonder what happens to an atom when the material or substance it makes up changes, like when water changes to steam?

Van De Graff

In class we saw many different demonstrations with the Van De Graff. A Van De Graff builds up negative charge around it by collecting electrons from the rubber band and expelling them into the dome. We saw what happened when different objects/substances were placed near the negatively charged dome. When we blew bubbles towards the Van De Graff, they first were attracted to it, then once they got close enough repealed the other way. This is because there was an imbalance of charges. When we formed a human chain, at first there were to many people so no one got shocked, but when we used less people they got shocked. This is because anything that touched the dome also had a negative charge.When you touch them you get shocked because our bodies want to get back to their natural, neutral state. When the paper stripes were tapped to the Van De Graff they stuck strait out, like hair, because of an imbalance of charge. When we put the metal wand up to the pieces of paper they fell back down because metal is a good conductor and took all of the negative charge. When we put cheerios on top of the dome, they flew off because the Van De Graff gave them a negative charge and they repealed. I still have some questions about static electricity and atoms. would the Van De Graff work if it had a positive charge? What is being released in to the air from an atomic bomb, or broken atom? What are protons, electrons, and neutrons and how do they have so much power, like in the Van De Graff?

Static Electricity 1

Today we did four different experiments involving atoms and static electricity. At the first station we rubbed a balloon on our hair and held it on top of scraps of paper. When we did this the paper attracted to the balloon and rose to it. I think this is because the balloon gained positive or negative energy when we rubbed it on our head and the paper had the opposite energy as it, causing them to attract. At the second station we stuck two 10 inch pieces of tape to the table and then ripped them and held them up to each other. When we did this, the tapes repelled each other. I think this is because they were both the same thing, and they got the same amount of energy, therefore they repelled each other. At the third station we stuck at 10 inch piece of tape to the table and another one on top of it, then ripped it off. When we did this the tapes attracted to each other. I think this is because one of the pieces of tape was charged from ripping it off the table, but because the other one wasn't ripped off, it was opposite, because of this they attracted. At the fourth station we rubbed a balloon on our shirt and the held it up to a small stream of water. When we did this the water attracted to the balloon. I think this is because the atoms in the water have are oppisite to the balloon, therefore they attract. During this lesson I was confused about some things, here are some questions I had. What is an atom made of? I don't mean neutrons, protons, and electrons, but for example if we had a huge atom the we could see, what would it look/feel like. Another question I have is, how do atoms play into static electricity? I also wonder, if an atom is negative or positive, does that mean the object it makes up is also negative or positive?