Static Electricity and Bubbles!

[DjWreckless1995]

can u try to freeze a bubble?

[armyhobo12]

BUBBLES!!

[sgspkz]

OMG best video you got

[alaahdino]

Can u answeran important question where did u get the bubble gun from its ausome

[JeffersonLab]

@alaahdino From a toy store at the mall, I think.

[aggierockhunter]

what would happen if you blew bubbles at the two generators together while they were on? would you make a video if it sounds interesting??

[JeffersonLab]

@aggierockhunter Already have. See "Static Electricity and Bubbles!"

[aggierockhunter]

@JeffersonLab ..... two generators...two

[JeffersonLab]

@aggierockhunter What two generators are you referring to? We just have the one.

[aggierockhunter]

@JeffersonLab oh oh thats my bad. i was thinking of the grounding dome. haha

[4775327]

BUBBLE AWESOME-NESS!!!

[souravzzz]

i WANT that bubble gun!

[Sk8rBoi4x4]

Have your own TV show plz.

[ZeldaOotSoundTrack]

i love science :D

[joethegamer444]

bubble gun nice XD

[mercedesdarek]

It's not always true that there's more moisture in the air in the summer than in the winter. In the place where I live, moisture in the summer is about 30% while in the winter it's around 80%.

[JeffersonLab]

@mercedesdarek The temperature also plays a role. Warm air with a moderate relative humidity can have more total water vapor in it than cold air with a high relative humidity.

[kyteech]

I'm not quite sure about some aspects of static electricity perhaps this is good place to ask. Can static travel across the surface on an insulator? Like a rubber mat? Metals cannot hold charges as static charges simply spread evenly across? Lastly can static electricity flow through a conductor, assuming some emf source is available?

[JeffersonLab]

@kyteech A static charge is, by definition, a collection of charges that aren't moving. By definition, a static charge can never travel across the surface of an insulator or through a conductor. Once charges are moving, they are no longer static.

Since insulators only insulate up to a point, if the voltage is high enough, charges can travel across the surface of an insulator.

Metals can very easily be given a static charge. There's no issue with them holding a charge at all.

[shadywalker]

What would happen if the surface of the dome was coated with an insulator? Would it still discharge? Could a capacitor be made that is charged by static electricity? Is it true that a normal static shock has a voltage somewhere between 2-5kv?

[JeffersonLab]

@shadywalker It is coated with an insulator - air. But, if you were to coat it with a more substantial insulator, it's possible for it to discharge, assuming the dome could be brought to a high enough voltage. Your estimate for the voltage of a static shock also sounds about right.

[shadywalker]

Could it be that the smaller bubbles from the ladies little bubble gun gained a charge from the air faster, and thus was repelled more than the large bubbles. Could it be the mechanism that the bubble fluid had to pass through also passed along a charge to the bubbles?

Just curious why the small bubbles hardly made it to the generator.

[JeffersonLab]

@shadywalker I think it's because the cross section of the bubble goes as the square of the radius but the volume of the bubble goes as the cube. Smaller bubbles are less likely to run into a charge (smaller cross sectional area) but, when they do, the charge packs more of a punch because the smaller bubble has much less mass. Basically, when you shrink a sphere, you shed volume faster than you shed cross section. Cut a sphere's radius in half and it has 1/4 the cross section and 1/8 the volume.

[EndlessPsycodelia]

Funny and educational lol

[rkshirey]

again thanks



[heli121212]

i was in science and we wer having fun with the van de graff, if you get a spoon and put RUBBER gloves on and turn on the van de graff, then put the curvy side near the dome, hopefuly there will be a huge shock (mini lightning)

[FlumenSanctiViti]

If the moisture in the air is taking away all the charge off of Van de Graaff generator, what would happen if we were to power Van de Graaff generator in open space (with no moisture or air)? Would it hold charge indefinitely?

[JeffersonLab]

It would hold it for much longer, but there would still be some discharge. The domes aren't perfectly smooth. Any little scratch or surface feature is going to cause an edge or a point. Those will be places where coronal discharge will take place. It will be a much slower process, but it will still lose charge.

[fenderflipper]

just go to 1:47 and watch the "bubble fight" over and over again. lols

[celebprincess23]

It doesn't really work in Hong Kong, unfortunately, because of all the moisture...

[looneymooneyhehe]

wish i had a bubble fight lol

[aSASa45454]

Lol

"Superior firepower does not ensure victory!"

[TheSandsOfTime60]

Don't bubbles also have non-polar soap molecules in them as well that would inhibit electrical current?

[JeffersonLab]

There isn't really a current that's being established in the bubbles. The water molecules are just realigning themselves due to the electric field produced by the Van de Graaff.

[phatpetey]

Don't we all love science : )

[stevenr4]

wait!

In the summer where i live,

there is NO liquid in the air!

In the winter, there IS liquid in the air!

Where are you guys from?

[JeffersonLab]

We are in Virginia where it is far more humid in the summer than in the winter. Keep in mind that the air temperature plays a big role in this as well. Hot air holds more water vapor than cold air. 90 degree air with 70% relative humidity contains much more water vapor than 50 degree air with 70% relative humidity.

Where are you?

[stevenr4]

I live in the bay area, it is generally humid here, but there seems to be more humid during the winter than during the summer. There is alot of static during summer (the worst time to slide the plastic slides) than in the winter for me. (the last comment was not meant to be offensive, now i look at it, it seems i worded it mean)

[Lukegpb]

no, there is - in all places but deserts - always more liquid in the summer air then in winter

[JeffersonLab]

I can see this happening in the Bay area with mountains on one side and cold ocean on the other. Plus, I'm sure stevenr4 isn't making things up. But, yes, in general, there is more moisture in the air in summer than in the winter, although there are exceptions.

[ThisIsArtem]

that doesn't sound right. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air...

[JeffersonLab]

Yes, warm air can holds more water vapor than cold air. But I can see where certain environmental conditions could result in higher humidity in the winter and lower humidity in the summer. Although warmer air is capable of holding more moisture, nothing says that it has to have more moisture.

[SuperSkarmory2]

@JeffersonLab Lol "can holds" Epic Grammar fail

[JeffersonLab]

@SuperSkarmory2 Meh. Simple typo. Epic overuse of epic fail.

[xnemu]

and these....are bubbles...LOL

[IntelligenceQuota]

haha this humor is so lame yet funny at the same time.

the science is great too; nice tidbits to know :P

[firebert123]

I love all this little information about random, yet everyday things that happen all the time and are overlooked. kinda like "How it's made" except with science :D

"Superior firepower DOES NOT INSURE VICTORY!"

[btsax2]

i love vandagraff generators.... Go Science!!!!!!!!

[vintagejeffhardy]

lol