News Physics

Squishy materials reveal new physics of static electricity 

How objects charge when touched depends on their history, scientists find 

A girl closes her eyes as her long brown hair clings to a yellow balloon touching the top of her head.

A balloon rubbed on hair will pick up a negative charge, but scientists still don’t understand exactly how this process works.

Yuricazac/Istock/Getty Images Plus

By Emily Conover

Rub a balloon on your hair and the balloon typically picks up a negative electric charge, while your hair goes positive. But a new study shows that the charge an object picks up can depend on its history.