Why isnt my balloon sticking to the wall?

Question

ive rubbed it a couple times and ive been trying to get it to stick to the wall by static charge for my science project, but its not sticking. it worked at school but wen i try it at home it doesnt work.

im on spring break now and my science project is due the first day i get back so i cant go to school and do it or anything...

ahh what is happening and what should i do!?

Answer 1

The weather greatly affects static build up. Damp reduces the build up so dry times are best for your project. This could be cold dry or hot dry.

Not much you can do if the humidity prevents the build up of static.

Answer 2

you need to build up static on the balloon, you can easily do this by rubbing it over your hair (quite vigorously) or someone elses hair, once the balloon has build up enough static you will be able to lift long hair upwards then it should stick to a wall or ceiling

hope this helps

Answer 3

There could be several things I can think of that might be causing your problem...

First of all, make sure the balloon is clean... if it's got too much oil and stuff on it that could be part of the problem...

Second, try a different material to rub it against... if I remember right, wool is supposed to be good for that but some synthetics will do the trick too... just look at the label of the material and see what it's made of and then try other ones that have different fabrics.

If it's for a science project, make sure to keep track of the different stuff you've tried and which work and such... that will make your write up that much more complete :)  Maybe you can rate which fabrics worked the best and such.  If neither of those things work, you might try a different balloon (I don't know if this is actually the same balloon you had at school or not) I think they make them out of a couple different materials.

If you have a cat or a dog, try rubbing it on them too... obviously you can't bring them to school (probably) but it will add more data to your report :)

Good luck!