Question

Billy was blowing up some balloons for his sister's birthday party. Sally, his sister, grabbed a balloon and rubbed it on his head. Billy's hair began to stick up in little spikes all over his head! Then Sally took the ballon and put it up against the wall. It stuck in place! "We learned about this in science class," Sally said. Billy's hair stood up and the balloon stuck to the wall because of

A) electromagnetism.
B) static electricity.
C) current electricity.
D) a magnetic force field.

Answer 1

B) static electricity.

Step-by-step explanation:

Static electricity is the buildup of electrical charge on an object.

When you rub a balloon against your hair, you are transferring negative charges (electrons) from your hair to the balloon. Your hair loses negative charges, so it now has positive charges.

When you remove the balloon from your hair, the opposite charges attract each other and pull your hair towards the balloon.

When you place the balloon against the wall, the wall is more positively charged than the balloon.

The balloon will stick to the wall because the opposite charges attract.

A) and D) are wrong, because hair and balloons are not attracted by magnetic fields.

C) is wrong, because there is no electrical current.