Electrostatics: Electric Charges and Fields

warm-up Lesson Warm-Up

Go and get two pieces of scotch tape, about 6 inches long each. Then follow these instructions and take notes on what happens:

  1. Stick each piece of tape down on a table, leaving a place to grasp the end to unpeel from the table.
  2. Quickly remove the two pieces of tape from the table, making sure not to damage the table.
  3. Bring the two pieces of tape together (non-sticky sides facing each other).
  4. Observe and take notes.
  5. Now, blow on one piece of tape through the whole length so that it is forced to touch the other piece.
  6. Bring the two pieces of tape apart again and move them close (but not touching).
  7. Observe.

Continue on with this section to discover what happened!