Shocking Sparks! (Advanced Experiment)
In this experiment we'll create an object called an electrophorus. Using the materials listed above, we'll charge the object and then discharge it creating a snap, a little electrical shock, and a bright spark.

If you're afraid of a little electrical shock then get an adult to discharge the object for you.

• Step 1 - Use the pliers to remove the pen cartridge from the insides of the BIC pen.  This will be our 'handle'.
• Step 2 - Place the pie tin upside down on the table.
• Step 3 - Push a thumbtack down through the center of the pie tin.
• Step 4 - Turn the tin back over so you are looking at the inside of the tin.  The point of the thumbtack should be sticking up through the middle of the tin.
• Step 5 - Coat the thumbtack point with hot glue. The glue is HOT!  So be careful.
• Step 6 - Push the bottom of pen body down onto the extending thumbtack point.  You could also use a pencil for this step and press the eraser end of the pencil down onto the thumbtack.
• Step 7 - Let the glue dry for a little while.
• Step 8 - Rub the styrofoam plate with the wool rag for about 45 seconds.
• Step 9 - Place a styrofoam plate upside down on the table.
• Step 10 - Using the pen 'handle' that we just created, place the pie tin on top of the upside down styrofoam plate (the pen should be sticking up).
• Step 11 - Quickly touch the pie tin with your finger. It may produce a small shock.
• Step 12 - Remove the pie tin off of the styrofoam plate using the pen 'handle'.
• Step 13 - Discharge the 'charged' pie tin by touching it with your finger. If you don't feel happy about the small electrical shock then ask an adult to discharge the object.
• You can recharge the pan by starting at step 8.
• So what have we learned here?

• Rubbing the styrofoam plate with the wool rag creates a negative charge on the plate (that is, it attracts electrons from the wool). 

• When you place the pie tin on top of the styrofoam, the electrons on the styrofoam repel the electrons on the tin. The tin at this point has a neutral charge.

• But when you touch the tin (while it is on the styrofoam plate) the electrons travel off of the tin and onto your finger (possibly creating a spark). Now the tin has a positive charge (it was charged by induction).

• Now, by carrying this contraption by the insulated handle (the pen), you can carry a positive charge all around the room.  When you bring this positive charge near your finger, or any other object that is a source of electrons, the positively charged tin will attract electrons, creating a spark. 

  Parent's Note - Although an atom is normally electrically neutral, it can lose or gain a few electrons in some chemical reactions or in a collision with an electron or another atom. This gain or loss of electrons produces an electrically charged atom called an ion.

• An atom that loses electrons becomes a positive ion, and an atom that gains electrons becomes a negative ion. The gain or loss of electrons is called ionization.