Dear WW: I remember having a lot of fun with static electricity. At Christmas air in house was very dry because there was not provision for humidifying it. Bouncing a air inflated ball perhaps ten inches in diameter on wool rug would build up quite a charge. Holding finger out to unsuspecting patsy would make spark almost an inch long jump to him. When I worked nights in high priced mental hospital, and with rubber soled shoes scuffed along very expensive rug whole length of corridor, and then touched my massive door key to one of my buddies, he would jump a mile. I once made a fairly good Vandegraf generator after seeing one at Science Museum. If you know a youngster likely to be interested, instructions can be found on Internet by typing "Vandegraf static electricity generator" into Yahoo! search box.
