Jumping Cereal and Static Electricity
Well here we are. The final project of freshman year. It's been a crazy year, and I'm super excited to bring you my last project as a freshman in STEM Marin!
We had the choice to make anything Physics or Engineering related for this project. Some people made solar ovens that make s'mores, some made bottle rockets, and others made wind turbines that charged their phone. But no... I made cereal jump using static electricity.
For this project my materials were:
1. A thin yet sturdy sheet of plexie glass
2. Two blocks of wood
3. About a half cup of Rice Crispies cereal
4. A wool sock
The first thing I did was put the two wood blocks about 8 inches apart and then I placed the glass on top of the blocks. I then poured the cereal beneath the glass. I took one of my dad's wool socks and slid it across the surface of the glass. The cereal instantly starting moving. It was sticking to the glass and jumping every where. It was quite interesting to watch. Even long after the sock was gone the cereal was still moving.
Well when I was about to rub the sock on the glass, nothing much happened because the wool had no charge on it. When I brought the sock near the glass this time, all the excess electrons on the wool forced some of the electrons in the cereal to repel to the other side of the cereal grains. This "induced" the side of the cereal facing the sock to have a positive charge so the cereal was attracted to the sock. Once the cereal jumped up and touched the glass however, some of the electrons on the glass and the sock were transferred to the cereal giving it a negative charge. At this point, both the cereal and the sock had a negative charge so the cereal repelled and jumped back off the glass.
We had the choice to make anything Physics or Engineering related for this project. Some people made solar ovens that make s'mores, some made bottle rockets, and others made wind turbines that charged their phone. But no... I made cereal jump using static electricity.
For this project my materials were:
1. A thin yet sturdy sheet of plexie glass
2. Two blocks of wood
3. About a half cup of Rice Crispies cereal
4. A wool sock
The first thing I did was put the two wood blocks about 8 inches apart and then I placed the glass on top of the blocks. I then poured the cereal beneath the glass. I took one of my dad's wool socks and slid it across the surface of the glass. The cereal instantly starting moving. It was sticking to the glass and jumping every where. It was quite interesting to watch. Even long after the sock was gone the cereal was still moving.
Well when I was about to rub the sock on the glass, nothing much happened because the wool had no charge on it. When I brought the sock near the glass this time, all the excess electrons on the wool forced some of the electrons in the cereal to repel to the other side of the cereal grains. This "induced" the side of the cereal facing the sock to have a positive charge so the cereal was attracted to the sock. Once the cereal jumped up and touched the glass however, some of the electrons on the glass and the sock were transferred to the cereal giving it a negative charge. At this point, both the cereal and the sock had a negative charge so the cereal repelled and jumped back off the glass.
Reflection
This was a very easy and fun project to learn and make. I actually gained an understanding of static electricity and how it is conducted. I learned a lot about electrons and how they work. There are several things I should have done better. I should have spent more time understanding the concept and researching. When it came down to the line I was struggling to even start a project. So managing my time was an issue. Otherwise, I loved doing this project and having the freedom to pick what I wanted to do!
Its been a great year at STEM Marin and I cant wait for next sophomore year!
Its been a great year at STEM Marin and I cant wait for next sophomore year!