Why does a balloon stick to a wall

When the negatively charged balloon approaches a wall, the negative charges in the wall are repelled or pushed away. This leaves a positive charge on the wallboard at the spot where the balloon touches.

It is the attraction between the positively charged area of the wall and the negatively charged balloon that results in the balloon "sticking" to the board. Over time, electrons will transfer from the balloon to the wall, causing the balloon to become uncharged and fall to the floor. Some materials lose electrons more easily than others.

The more easily the material loses electrons, the better it will "charge up" the balloon. Describe the movement of electrons from one material to another. Per Student: balloon a clean blackboard, whiteboard, or dry wall space.

How are the balloons sticking to the board? What did rubbing against a sleeve do to the balloon? Do the balloons stick to the wall forever? Have you ever been curious as to how a balloon can magically stick to a wall after rubbing it against some sort of material? This happens because of Static Electricity. Static Electricity is a familiar electric phenomenon in which charged particles are transferred from one body to another. When you rub your hair or a sweater against a balloon, charge transfer occurs, and Static Electricity is produced.

In simpler terms, if you rub a balloon against your sweater, the balloon will steal electrons from the sweater, which leaves the sweater positively charged and the balloon negatively charged. The balloon will most likely be attracted back to the sweater because opposite charges attract. The reason that the balloon will stick to the wall is because the negative charges in the balloon will make the electrons in the wall move to the other side of their atoms like charges repel and this leaves the surface of the wall positively charged.

Because opposite charges attract, the negatively charged ballon will be attracted to the positively charged surface of the wall. Something interesting that I stumbled upon while doing this research was some different materials that cause a lot of static electricity are rabbit fur, human hair, cat fur, glass, and dry human skin! Posted May 30, Paste as plain text instead. Only 75 emoji are allowed. Display as a link instead. Press the pompom, glue side down, to the inflated balloon.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Physics Why does the balloon stick to the wall after it is rubbed on the wool sweater? Ben Davis February 1, Why does the balloon stick to the wall after it is rubbed on the wool sweater? What happens to the negative charges in the wall when the balloon is brought near them?

Can I use double sided tape for balloons? Is balloon glue safe on walls?