Static Electricity is the charge that certain substances develop when they are rubbed against another material. For instance if you rub a plastic comb on your dry hair you will charge the comb with static electricity and be able to pick up small bits of paper with it.

So how are we going to use static electricity to levitate an orb? Let’s find out what materials we will need. You will need a PVC pipe one inch diameter and about two feet in length, along with that you will need some tinsel, the kind that is used to decorate the Christmas Tree at home. Pick the narrowest and thinnest tinsel so that its easy to levitate.

Now tie six strands of the tinsel about 6 inches in length together at both ends. Make sure that the tinsel is not tangles in between so that when it levitates it will form an orb easily. Now use your hair to charge the PVC pipe piece and use it to raise the tinsel orb.

The charge on the PVC pipe repels the tinsel and raises it away from the pipe making the tinsel form an orb. You will need to recharge the pipe with static electricity each time you want to do the levitation science experiment.