Separating Salt And Pepper (Funky Physics Experiments)

You will need:

1. Comb or an inflated
   balloon
2. Salt
3. Pepper
4. Woollen material (like a
   sock or sweater)

Take the help of static electricity to prove to your mother that you can do the impossible, that is mixing up salt and pepper only to separate them again very easily.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. On a flat surface, like a tray, mix together the salt and the pepper, by first shaking one out and then the other.
2. Mix them evenly with your fingers.
3. Take your comb (or balloon) and charge it full of static energy, by simply rubbing it on your woollen material for a few minutes.
4. After a few minutes, when you feel it is charged, lower it with the teeth side
   down onto the mixture, until you are an
   inch away.
5. Do not get too close to the mixture.
6. Watch what happens.

RESULT

The pepper particles will start clinging to the comb (or the balloon if you used it), leaving only salt behind in the mixture. Everything which has matter, in turn, has atoms. These atoms are made up of electrons (negatively charged), protons (positively charged) and neutrons (no charge). When we create static entergy, the comb or the balloon has a negative charge, whereas both salt and pepper have a positive charge. But only the pepper (lighter in density) gets attracted to the comb, leaving the heavier salt particles down.