Tiny Invisible Needles

Noor is a little 4-year-old girl who lives in London with her mother and father and brother. Her mother’s name is Lila, her father’s name is Eyad, and her brother’s name is Hashim. Both of Noor’s parents work as doctors.

Noor is a curious little girl; she likes to ask questions in order to understand how the world around her works.

One day Noor was sitting at home bored. And it was the weekend, so her mother wasn’t working and was at home. And her brother Hashim was sitting on the couch, and he was playing with Noor’s coat. He was grabbing her coat and throwing it on the floor, then picking it back up, then throwing it on the floor again. His mother saw him and said, “Hashim, stop it. Stop throwing your sister’s coat on the floor.” So he stopped throwing the coat on the floor and started rubbing the coat against the couch instead. His mother looked at him and said, “Hashim, stop it. Stop rubbing your sister’s coat against the couch. Leave her coat alone. ” So Hashim stopped and left his sister’s coat alone.

Noor was really bored. So she looked at her mother and asked, “Mummy, can you please take me to the park to go play with my brother Hashim?” Her mother replied, “Ok sweetheart, just wait for me to get ready, and we will go to the park. And while I’m getting ready, put your shoes on.”

Noor started to put her shoes on, and her mother started to get ready. And after one minute, Noor was finished putting her shoes on. And after 5 minutes, her mother was finished getting ready.

After her mother was finished getting ready. She carried her brother and said, “Noor, go grab your coat and wear it, and take my hand to go to the park.”

But as soon as Noor grabbed her coat, she felt a prick in her tiny little hand. It felt like there were tiny invisible needles on her coat that she couldn’t see. So she yelled, “Ouch! Mummy, I can’t grab my coat because there are tiny invisible needles on it.”

Her mother laughed and said, “Noor, invisible needles don’t exist.” Noor then said, “Mummy, I’m not lying; I felt a prick in my hand when I tried to grab my coat.”

So her mother put her brother down on the couch, and went to grab Noor’s coat. And when she did, she felt the same exact feeling in her hand that Noor felt when she tried to grab her coat.

Noor’s mother then laughed and said, “Noor, what you felt wasn’t tiny invisible needles on your coat; it was static electricity.”Noor asked, “Mummy, what is static electricity?”

Her mother asked, “Noor, do you like watching kids’ videos on the iPad?” Noor replied, “Yes Mummy.” Her mother asked, “Have you ever wondered how the iPad works? And how we can use it to watch videos without it needing to eat food?” Noor replied, “Yes, I have. I know that we humans need food to be able to work. You told me that if we don’t eat, we’ll feel very tired, and we’ll feel like we can’t do anything. But what do iPads need to be able to work?

Noor’s mum replied, “They need something called electricity. Electricity is made up of tiny charged particles.” Noor asked, “What is a particle? And what does charged mean?”

Her mother replied, “A particle is a very small thing. And charged means that something has a charge. A charge is like how there are kids who are boys and kids who are girls; a charge can either be positive or negative. It’s like a charge can either be a boy or a girl, but we call it a positive charge or a negative charge instead of calling it a boy or a girl. Charged particles can either have a positive charge or a negative charge, and the tiny charged particles that make up the electricity that we use to feed the iPad are called ‘electrons’, and they have a negative charge, and they are very small, and we can’t see them.”

Noor asked, “But Mummy, when we eat, we put the food into our mouths and chew it, then swallow it, and this is how food gets inside our bodies. But how does electricity get inside the iPad?” Her mother replied, “That is a very smart question, Noor. Electricity gets inside the iPad from the wall socket through cables.” Her mother asked, “You have seen a wall socket and a cable before, right, Noor?” Noor replied, “Yes, I have.”

Her mother said, “As I said, the tiny particles that make up the electricity that we use to feed the iPad are called ‘electrons’. And what happens is that so many electrons move inside the cable, and they get inside the iPad, and that’s how the iPad eats. Just like how when you drink juice, the juice moves through the straw and gets inside your mouth. And when so many electrons move inside a cable, we call their movement an ‘electric current’.”

Noor said, “So iPads feed on electricity. And electricity is made up of tiny particles that have a charge. And a charge is like whether someone is a boy or a girl, but for tiny particles, and it can be negative or positive. And the tiny particles that make up the electricity that we use to feed the iPad are called ‘electrons’, and they have a negative charge. And electrons travel from the wall socket through the cable, and they get inside the iPad, and that’s how the iPad eats.” Her mum said, “Yes, Noor, that’s correct, smart girl.”

Noor said, “But, Mummy, I didn’t touch a cable or a wall socket, because you always tell me not to touch them. I grabbed my coat only, so why did I feel electricity?” Her mother replied, “What you felt was static electricity. ‘Static’ means that something is not moving. And remember how I told you how so many electrons move inside the cable and get inside the iPad to feed it?” Noor replied, “Yes.” Her mother said, “Well, sometimes there can be so many electrons that aren’t moving on the surface of an object. And this is what causes static electricity. And sometimes, this can happen when we rub two objects together.”

Noor then asked, “Why does that happen?” Her mother replied, “Because everything around us has electrons and particles with a positive charge inside it and on it, Noor. And sometimes, when we rub two objects together, some electrons move from one object to the other. And this causes the other object to have so many electrons that aren’t moving on it. And this is what happened to your coat: electrons moved from the couch to it when your brother rubbed it against the couch. And this caused it to have so many electrons that aren’t moving on it. So when you tried to grab it, the electrons on it moved fast from it to your tiny little hand. And that’s why you felt a prick when you grabbed it. That was the feeling of too many electrons moving fast from the coat to your hand.” Noor said, “Electricity is scary.”

Her mother said, “Yes, it can be, but we need it to feed many devices that we use in our everyday lives. And static electricity can be very fun.” Noor asked, “How can static electricity be fun?” Her mother replied, “Well, if you take a ruler and rub it on your clothes, and take small pieces of paper and put the ruler close to them, the ruler will stick to the pieces of paper just like magnets stick to each other.” Noor said, “Whoa! That’s so fun. Can we try this trick?” Her mum replied, “Of course, sweetheart.”

Noor then asked, “But why do the pieces of paper stick to the ruler, just like magnets stick to each other?” Her mother replied, “Particles that have the same type of charge repel each other, meaning that they don’t like each other, and they try to move away from each other. And particles that have different types of charges attract each other, meaning that they like each other, and they try to get closer to each other. So basically, if we had two particles with a negative charge, they would repel each other because they have the same type of charge. And if we had two particles, one with a negative charge and one with a positive charge, they would attract each other because they have different types of charges. And remember how I told you how everything around us has electrons and particles with a positive charge on it?” Noor replied, “Yes, Mummy, I do.”

Her mother then said, “What happens when we put the ruler close to the small paper pieces is that the electrons on the paper pieces will try to move away from the electrons on the ruler. Because after rubbing the ruler on our clothes, this caused the ruler to have so many electrons that aren’t moving on it. And because all electrons have a negative charge, and particles with the same type of charge don’t like each other, they try to move away from each other. So what happens is that the parts of the pieces of paper that are close to the ruler will lose electrons, because the electrons in those parts will run away from the big number of electrons on the ruler.”

Noor then asked, “But why do the pieces of paper stick to the ruler, then?” Her mum replied, “Because the parts of the pieces of paper that have lost electrons, because they are close to the ruler, and the electrons in them ran away from the big number of electrons on the ruler, they became more positive. Because there are electrons and particles with a positive charge on everything. So when the electrons run away from one part of a piece of paper, that part becomes more positive. Because it now has more particles with a positive charge on it than electrons, which are particles with a negative charge. And because particles with different types of charges love to get closer to each other, the big number of electrons on the ruler will try to get closer to the particles with a positive charge on the paper. And that’s why the more positive part of each piece of paper will stick to the ruler. And that’s how a ruler can act just like a magnet for small pieces of paper.”

Noor said, “Thank you so much Mummy for teaching me about static electricity.” Her mum replied, “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now wear your coat so that you can go to the park to play before it gets dark.”

After the mum told Noor to wear her coat, she headed towards the door. And when she grabbed the doorknob to open it, she yelled, “Ouch!” Noor looked at her and laughed and said, “That was static electricity on the doorknob, right?” The mother replied, “Yes, Noor, static electricity can be fun but annoying.”

Noor then went to the park with her mother and brother and took her teddy bear with her.

At the park, a kid came up to Noor and told her that if she doesn’t give him her teddy bear, he will push her and take it. Noor said to him, “You can’t push me. I have tiny invisible needles on my coat, and you will hurt yourself.” The kid laughed and said, “I don’t believe you.”

Noor then rubbed the sleeve of her coat against one of the slides. And she put her sleeve on the kid’s hand and asked, “Do you feel the tiny invisible needles?” The kid yelled, “Ouch.” Then he ran to his mummy and left Noor alone.

After Noor was finished playing at the park, she went home with her mother and brother and teddy bear. And at home, she thanked her mother again for teaching her about static electricity. And she appreciated the fact that she has a mother who loves her, and teaches her about different things.