Electricity

For our second club meeting we learned all about Electricity!!


First, we learned about static electricity, we did an experiment using a balloon and a fluorescent light tube. We rubbed the balloon up and down on the tube which causes charged particles (electrons) to build up on the surface of the balloon and charges the mercury vapor inside the tube. The charged mercury vapor caused the fluorescent chemicals inside the tube to produce visible light.
Second, we made an electromagnet with a battery, wire, and a nail. The current in the wire creates a magnetic effect. A weak magnetic field is created around a wire carrying an electric current. This magnetic field gets stronger as the wire is coiled into a smaller space. The iron nail becomes magnetized inside the coiled wire and attracts the paper clips.
Third, we discussed conductors and insulators and let the kids test different materials to let them see which was a conductor and which was a insulator.

We made many interesting discoveries with these experiments!!