A lightning can be both scary and awesome to behold. It would be really cool to learn how to create a mini-lightning. Good news is, you can create one, using with the right tools. There are two ways that you can do this.
The Iron Way
What you will need:
- 1 large iron or steel pot with an insulated (plastic) handle
- 1 iron or steel fork
- 1 plastic sheet (e.g. dry-cleaner garment bag)
- Pair of rubber gloves
What to do:
- Place the plastic sheet on a tabletop and secure it with a tape.
- Wear the rubber gloves.
- Make the room as dark as possible. The darker the room, the clearer you will see the mini-lightning.
- Hold the iron or steel pot by the handle and rub it vigorously on the plastic sheet.
- Hold the fork in one hand and bring it slowly to the rim of the pot. When the pot and the fork are close enough, you will see a tiny spark jump from one to the other.
The Balloon Way
What you will need:
- Inflated balloon
- Woolen cloth
- Any metal surface (e.g. metal door knob)
What to do:
- Go to a dark room with all the materials.
- Once inside, rub the inflated balloon to the wool cloth quickly.
- Get the balloon close to the metal surface and when it is close enough, you will see a tiny spark jump from the balloon to the metal.
What just happened?
A lightning happens when static electricity is produced inside a thundercloud. This is caused by the rubbing of the water and ice in the cloud. The charged particles separate: the positive electrical charges float on top while the negative electrical charges stay at the bottom. The separation is actually an imbalance that is corrected by a lightning strike. It is an electrostatic discharge that have three types: intra-cloud (or within the cloud); cloud to cloud (between two different clouds); or, cloud to ground. The last is the one that can be physically viewed the most – and is the most dangerous.
In the Iron way, you are acting as the Earth’s surface while the pot is the thundercloud that generates the static charge. The fork acts as the lightning rod.
In the Balloon way, the inflated balloon is used to create the static electricity that is actually an imbalance of electric charges. When it is placed near a metal object or surface, the imbalance is equalized through the spark that is created.
These two experiments illustrate what happens in a thundercloud. For the lightning to happen, you need a high electric potential and this is what the iron pot and the balloon represent. You also need a high-resistance medium that will trigger the equalization – which is the iron fork or the metal surface/object.
