Van der Graff Generator Activity Reflection

How does the generator work?
The generator makes static electricity the same way you do when you rub your feet on the carpet and then touch a doorknob. Inside the generator, there’s a giant rubber band that rubs across a piece of felt, stealing its electrons. The rubber band then spins around and the electrons travel up to the big metal ball on top. If you have a hand on the metal ball, the electrons will go into you.

What I learned from this activity:                                                                                                              While I was watching the experiments take place, I was asking myself: why does the static electricity make the hair on their heads stand up? After the activity, I did a little research of my own, and found that the electrons coming from the generator always want to get down to the ground (to get away from each other). Because the students were standing on an insulator, their bodies trapped the electrons, preventing them from escaping. This made their hair stand up because the electrons within it were repelling each other.

What I liked most:

My favourite part of the activity was making the human chain. It was weird to have the electric shock go through me, but it was also fun.

Why I think this was an important activity:

I think it was important that we do this because if we hadn’t, some of us might not have the same understanding of the concept. We were actually able to see it for ourselves.