Static Electricity Balloon with Salt and Pepper

Results: In our experiment, when balloon is rubbed against the cloth, some of the free electrons jump on to the balloon and creates negative charge. When the balloon is brought closer to the neutrally charged pepper, the negative charge on the balloon attracts the pepper.

Both salt and pepper are attracted to the static electricity. As pepper is lighter than the salt, pepper takes less effort to get stick to the opposite charges.

Extension: You can try other spices in your cupboard to observe what may happen. For example, try white sugar and icing sugar, or baking soda and cinnamon.

This experiment is from: Go Girls Science https://gosciencegirls.com/static-science-balloon-pepper-beard/