Re: Van de Graaff

[Scott Rippetoe <rippetoe@tenet.edu>]

On Sat, 27 Apr 1996, Raymond A. Rogoway wrote:

> I've been using the Van de Graff in my high school physics class for years. I 
> have never had a really successful student hair stand on end demo.

The first thing I tried was having a student stand on a chair, but he got 
shocked through the rivets holding the seat to the frame. Then I stacked 
up some old physics texts (about 30 cm worth) and had a girl with very 
fine hair and clean hair (no conditioner either) stand on the books with 
both hands on the VDG. I did not get spectacular results, but sufficient 
hair fanned out that the students thought it was pretty cool. I warn them 
the day before (a few students with fine hair) to wash and rinse twice 
and pass on the conditioner for a day. I teach near Houston, TX where the 
humidity is a little on the high side. I get the best results when dry 
cold fronts pass through, but I have had success on warm, muggy days as 
well (thanks to air conditioning, I guess).

Scott Rippetoe					rippetoe@tenet.edu
Academy of Science and Technology		voice	(713) 292-2615
27330 Oak Ridge School Road			fax	(713) 298-3292
Conroe, Texas  77385