Further extensions

Future plans

Extension:

Surface area

The experiment can be furthered extended by testing on other factors such as Surface area that comes in contact with the stream of water. According to the inverse square law equation, surface area is not taken to account in the equation and thus, should not affect the strength of the electric force field produced. By using that knowledge, another experiment can be conducted. Take the hypothesis, as surface area does not affect the degree of ‘bend’ of the stream of water. From the experiments above, it has been proven that the strength of the electric force field does affect the degree of ‘bend’ of the stream of water. This experiment can be conducted as an extension to test out the inverse square law since the hypothesis is based on it. 

By using different types of balloons, the surface area that comes in contact with the stream of water changes. The experiment can be conducted using a round balloon and a long balloon. The independent variable in this case will be the shape of the balloon and the dependent variable the degree of ‘bend’ of the stream of water.

Different generators

Another extension can be done about the different generators of static electricity. Balloon and hair are not the only combinations around, other objects such as wool jacket or nylon comb can also generate static electricity. According to the tribo-electric series, hair, wool and nylon all become positive when charged. This experiment can be used to find out which of the three is able to generate the most static electricity? Due to the lack of information regarding this topic, the hypothesis being that balloon is able to create the greatest degree of ‘bend’ in the stream of water among the three, does not have a firm basis but is merely a guess. This experiment can be conducted to prove the hypothesis right or wrong.

The independent variable in this case is the generators of static electricity and the dependent variable is the degree of ‘bend’ of the stream of water.