Joey Green's Mad Scientist

Magnetic Balloon

What You Need

Handful of Rice Krispies
Balloon
Wool sweater

What to Do
Pour the Rice Krispies on a tabletop. Inflate the balloon and knot it. Rub the balloon against the wool sweater, about five strokes. Hold the balloon an inch above the Rice Krispies.

What Happens
The Rice Krispies hop up and stick to the balloon.

Why It Works
The balloon rubs electrons off the wool sweater, giving the balloon a negative charge. The negative charges on the balloon attract the positive charges of the Rice Krispies, overcoming the force of gravity.

Bizarre Facts

The Kellogg Company is the worlds largest maker of ready-to-eat cereals, selling nearly one out of every three boxes of cereal in the United States.
The Kellogg Company makes twelve of the top fifteen cereals in the world, including All-Bran, Froot Loops, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Special K.
In 1986, the Kellogg Company stopped giving tours of its Battle Creek factory to prevent industrial spies from unearthing its secret recipes.
In front of the Kellogg factory in Battle Creek, Michigan, stands a giant statue of Tony of the Tiger.
When W. K. Kellogg refused to buy his grandson's process for making puffed corn grits (developed on company time), the younger Kellogg—John L. Kellogg—started his own company to make the new cereal. His grandfather sued, prompting John Kellogg to commit suicide in his Chicago factory.

Kelloggs Lucky Number
W. K. Kellogg was obsessed with the number seven. Born the seventh son to a seventh son on the seventh day of the week on the seventh day of the month with a last name seven letters long, Kellogg always booked hotel rooms on the seventh floor and insisted that his Michigan license plates end in a seven—which fails to explain the introduction of Kellogg's Product 19. It is not known whether Kellogg drank 7-Up.

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