# Last edited on 2011-11-01 04:35:40 by stolfilocal

A demonstration of static electricity with steel balls instead of the usual dielectric objects.

The steel balls were scavenged from DVD/CD drives. The larger ones (~2mm) come from the spin stabilizer mounted on the main spindle.  The smaller ones (less than 1mm) are from ball bearings of the head positioning motor.  The container is acrylic, originally a box of Japanese toothpicks.

It is not clear whether the small "levitating" balls are attracted to the plastic or repelled by the larger balls.  The larger balls seem to feel the effect too, but are too heavy to levitate.