Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your clothes or your hair? What happened? Perhaps you noticed that the balloon somehow made your hair stand up. Maybe you could then stick the balloon to a wall or a ceiling. This phenomenon is called static electricity.

The same phenomenon occurs when you touch a doorknob and get a shock. This happens because your shoes and clothes gather electric charges. When the difference in charges becomes high enough, you can make a small spark. Clouds can also gather electric charges. They make a big spark that we call lightning.

Now, in this chapter, you will do some experiments so you can learn more about static electricity and electric charges.

This free sample chapter also includes the Table of Contents, About the Authors, An Introduction to Phenomenon-Based Learning, and the Index.