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Course: High school physics - NGSS > Unit 2
Lesson 4: Activity: Why do clothes develop static cling in a dryer?Activity: Why do clothes develop static cling in a dryer?
Make science come alive in your classroom with this free hands-on activity aligned to high school NGSS standards.
Activity: Why do clothes develop static cling in a dryer?
Have you ever grabbed a pile of clothes out of a dryer and noticed they were behaving strangely? Clothes in a dryer can develop static cling and stick together.
As the name suggests, static cling is a result of static electricity. What happens inside a dryer that causes clothes to develop static electricity? Why do the clothes stick together as a result? In this activity, students will build a device that can measure static electricity and use it to develop an explanation.
Overview
This activity is designed to be completed in two 45-minute class periods, with additional time required for follow-up creative projects. The activity consists of the following parts:
- Setting the stage—Students review the fundamentals of charged particles, electrostatic attraction and repulsion, and direct and inverse relationships. (20 minutes)
- Investigation (Part 1)—Students construct electroscopes and use them to demonstrate the static charge on a balloon. Students use a model to explain how the electroscope works. (25 minutes)
- Investigation (Part 2)—Students vary distance and amount of charge as they use the balloon to interact with the electroscope. Students connect their observations to Coulomb's law. (20 minutes)
- Data analysis (Part 3)—Students explore Coulomb's law quantitatively by calculating the electrostatic force two charges exert on each other at different distances. Students graph and analyze their results. They use their findings from the activity to explain why clothes develop static cling in a dryer. (25 minutes)
- Let's get creative!—Students apply their knowledge to create an informational poster for a laundromat explaining why clothes develop static cling in a dryer, and how a small amount of moisture can eliminate static. (45 minutes)
- Keep creating!—Students can choose from additional project ideas. Each project encourages students to combine scientific knowledge with creativity to produce something new.
Download the worksheets and get started today!
You can print out this activity or upload it to a digital classroom.
- Student activity guide (13 page worksheet)
- Teacher guide (step-by-step instructions)
NGSS performance expectations
HS-PS2-4. Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.
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