You don’t need expensive equipment to do a science experiment! You can do one with an ordinary plastic comb.
Tear a small scrap of tissue paper into little bits and charge your comb with static electricity by running it through your hair several times. This works best when the humidity is down and the air is dry.
Hold the comb close to the paper bits and watch them wiggle and jump up to the comb!
If you move the comb slowly over the bits, it really looks weird the way they move.
Now it’s time to go to the sink and turn on the water. Adjust it to a thin stream. If it breaks into drops, it’s too thin.
Run the comb through your hair several times. What you’re doing is charging it with static electricity.
Hold the comb close to the stream and watch how it pulls the water!
Don’t let it touch! If it gets wet, it won’t charge again until it’s dry.
Here’s a video on how it looks. They used a plastic ruler which works just as well as a comb. A balloon rubbed on your hair will work, too.
After you bend your water, leave it running in a thin stream for one more interesting effect.
Put your finger in the stream and move it slowly towards the top of the faucet. When you get about an inch away, watch the water suddenly turn into round beads above your finger!
This happens because of the force that holds water molecules together, called surface tension. We used that in an earlier experiment with a bowl of water, soap, and pepper.
Try it and let me know how it works for you.
