A student rubs a balloon made of rubber on his hair and notices that the balloon sticks to his hair afterwards. What happened to the electrical charges of both the student's hair and the balloon?

Question

The balloon's charge became negative, and the hair's charge became negative
The balloon's charge became positive, and the hair's charge became positive
The balloon's charge became neutral, and the hair's charge became positive
The balloon's charge became negative, and the hair's charge became positive

Answer 1

When the student rubs the balloon on his hair, electrons are transferred from the hair to the balloon. As a result:

• The balloon gains extra electrons, giving it a negative charge.
• The hair loses electrons, resulting in a positive charge.

Therefore, the correct explanation for what happened to the electrical charges of both the student's hair and the balloon is:

The balloon's charge became negative, and the hair's charge became positive.