Re: Why does a balloon that i rub on my head stick to some objects and not othe

Benjamen,

Yes, exactly so. When you rub the balloon on your head it gains a charge. By removing either the + or the - charges your head leaves the balloon with an excess of the other charge - or +. Lets say the balloon is left with an excess of + charges.

Now when another object like the wall is near the charge on the balloon "INDUCES" the charges in the wall. The - charges in the wall are drawn toward the + charges in the balloon. This pulls the two together.

Now why does this not work for your curtains? When curtains are made they often pick up excess charges so easily that thay have "STATIC CLING". Imagine if you could see the + charges as red and the - charges as black, the curtains would look all spotted and checkered. The + and - spots cling together and the curtains dont hang straight. Sometimes I have this problem with socks and blankets clinging together from the dryer. To make the curtains behave, they probably were treated with chemicals to make the static charges fade off quickly. This special treatment prevents the induced charge that causes static cling and helps the curtains hang straight and neat. For the same reasons your balloon does not stick.

Without letting them touch, see if the charged balloon is attracted to a surface like the curtain. See if the attraction changes after they are allowed to touch.

Altair