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The Magic Sticky Balloon

Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your hair and stuck it to the wall? It stays there like magic — but it isn't magic at all. It's static electricity!

In this lesson you'll rub, test and zap your way to understanding how it works. Tap Next to begin! 👉

Everything is full of tiny charges

Everything around you — your hand, a balloon, the wall — is made of teeny tiny bits too small to see. Some carry a negative (−) charge and some carry a positive (+) charge.

Normally they are balanced, so you don't notice anything. Tap a charge below to learn what it does!

−

+

👆 Tap the − or the + to find out about it.

Rubbing moves the charges

When you rub a balloon on your hair, tiny negative (−) charges hop from your hair onto the balloon. Now the balloon has extra negatives — it is "charged up"!

Rub the balloon! Drag your finger or mouse back and forth across it.

Charge: 0% — start rubbing! ✋

A charged balloon pulls light things

A charged balloon's extra − charges pull on the charges inside nearby objects. Light things get pulled toward the balloon!

Tap each object the balloon can pull and lift. Only very light things will move.

Found 0 of 4 light things.

Why does it stick to the wall?

The charged balloon has lots of − charges. When it gets close to the wall, it pushes the wall's − charges away, leaving + charges near the surface.

Now − and + are next to each other — and opposites attract! That gentle pull holds the balloon on the wall.

The golden rule of charges

Two simple rules explain everything:

Same charges push apart (− and −, or + and +) ⏪⏩
Opposite charges pull together (− and +) 🤝

Will these two push apart or pull together? Tap your answer for each pair.

Score: 0 / 3

Be a static scientist! 🔬

Try these safe experiments at home and watch static electricity in action:

🎈 Rub a balloon on your hair, then hold it near a thin stream of water from a tap — the water bends!
📄 Tear tiny bits of paper. Rub a balloon, hover it above them — they jump up.
🧦 Rub a balloon on a wool jumper, then stick it on the wall.

💡 Cool fact: Static works best on dry days. On wet, humid days the water in the air carries the charges away, so the balloon won't stick as well. (Singapore is often humid — try it in an air-conditioned room!)

⚡ Did you know? Lightning is giant static electricity! Charges build up in clouds, then jump in a huge spark. Your balloon spark is the same idea — just much, much tinier.

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You're a Static Electricity Star!

Here's everything you learned:

Everything is full of tiny − (negative) and + (positive) charges.
Rubbing a balloon moves − charges onto it, so it gets charged up.
A charged balloon pulls light things like paper bits and hair.
It sticks to a wall because − on the balloon attracts + on the wall.
The golden rule: same charges push apart, opposites pull together.

Now go rub a balloon and show someone the magic that's really science. You did a fantastic job today! 👏