Explore this Phenomenon! Tuesday, October 31 Explore this Phenomenon!

Assemble the electroscope like this: Press enough modeling clay into the Dixie® cup to fill the bottom at least 1 cm. Press the inflexible ends of the straws into the clay – two in each cup. Bend the flexible arm of each straw perpendicular to the vertical part of the straw. Make the two straws bend away from each other. Tear off two pieces of tape each 10 cm long. Fold over the edge of each piece of tape to make a handle. Press each piece firmly to a tabletop, leaving a little handle of tape sticking up. Using your Sharpie® marker, write “A” on one piece and “B” on the other piece of tape. Quickly pull the tapes from the table and stick one piece on a straw arm in each cup.

Move the cups so the two pieces of tape are face-to-face, about 15 cm apart. Then move the cups closer together. Have students observe what happens and make notes on their Tipsy Tapes worksheet. (the tapes repel each other) 2. Tear off another piece of tape, fold over a handle and press the sticky side onto the table. Write “C” on this piece of tape with the Sharpie® marker. 3. Tear off a second piece of tape and fold over a handle. Press the sticky side on top of the tape already on the table, putting the little handles on top of each other. Write “D” on this piece of tape. 4. Pull both pieces of tape off the table together. 5. Quickly pull the tape pieces apart and fasten onto the empty straw arm in each cup. The sticky side of C should be facing the smooth side of D. You should now have 4 straw arms with 4 pieces of tape.

It should look like this:

6. Bring the C and D arms close together 6. Bring the C and D arms close together. (With the sticky side of one facing the smooth side of the other.) Have students observe what happens and write on their worksheet. (the tapes attract each other) 7. Rub the comb with the wool cloth several times. Hold the comb near each dangling piece of tape and have students make observations each time.

Student Hands-On Investigation C- Next, challenge each group to use their own set of materials to conduct some simple investigations (and repeat trials) to answer the following questions. Q1. What happens when the tape is pulled off of plastic, then a comb is rubbed with wool and brought near the tape? Q2. What happens when the tape is pulled off of aluminum, then a comb is rubbed with wool and brought near the tape? Q3. What happens when the tape is pulled off of cotton, then a comb is rubbed with wool and brought near the tape?