Electrostatic Force

When I was a preschooler, I used to love when my birthday came around because I couldn't wait to receive a balloon during the school wide assembly in recognition of birthdays for the month. This event may have nothing to do with what we are learning now in Physics, but the first thing that popped into my mind when I thought about balloons and electrostatic force was that memory of me in preschool.

Now for the physics part of balloons. Balloons are insulators and can be charged by rubbing. The area that was rubbed is the only part on the balloon that is charged. That area becomes negatively charged since the balloon is gaining electrons from the object that it is being rubbed against. If the balloon is put against something neutral, the balloon will stick to it because there is an attraction between objects that are neutral and those that are charged. This attraction is caused by an electrostatic force.

Another example of electrostatic force is saran wrap. Due to its positive and negative charges, saran wrap sticks to itself so it is harder to unravel and keep the plastic wrap open. I always have a hard time trying to cover bowls with saran wrap so have to ask my dad to hold one side of the wrap while I hold the other so that it can cover the bowl completely. Opposite charges are attracted to one another.

Torque at Home

In the past weeks, we've been focusing on concepts dealing with objects moving in a rotational motion. Torque is essential to our study of rotational movements. Torque causes objects to move in a certain rotation. While I was in the bathroom, I got an idea to take a picture of the shower faucet because it reminded me of the concept of torque. In order for water to come out of the faucet, the faucet needs to be turned on. When you turn on the faucet, you are exerting a force called torque. Torque is dependent on force and the lever arm. Your hand in the lever arm that is putting a force on the faucet to turn it.

There are many other examples in the household that use the concept of torque such as doorknobs (we mentioned about this in class) and kitchen stove knobs to turn on the stove or oven. Torque exists everywhere.