Wrap stripped wire around a nail at least 3 inches long. The wire should be wrapped around the nail at least 50 times. Cut the wire, leaving 4 inches of wire on either end of the nail. Use electrical tape to secure one end of the wire to the negative end of a battery. Tape the other end of the wire to a knife switch, which can be purchased at hobby shops or hardware stores. Another section of wire should be cut and taped to the positive end of a battery. The other end of this wire must be taped to the open end of the knife switch. Close the knife switch, allowing electricity to flow through the circuit. Place a few metal paper clips near the tip of the nail and watch the electromagnetic attraction begin.
Strip and cut 2 inches of copper wire. Straighten a metal paper clip. Sand any rough spots on the wires with sandpaper. Push both wires into a lemon as closely together as you can without them touching. Touch your tongue to the wire tips and feel the tiny current of electricity produced by the lemon and conducted through the wire.
Tape a plastic sheet to a table top. A garment bag from a dry-cleaner will work well. Throughout this experiment, rubber gloves must be worn. In order to best view the reaction, darken the room as much as possible. Hold a large iron pot with plastic handles and rub it vigorously across the plastic sheet. Move a metal fork close to the side of the iron pot and watch as a small flash of lightning sparks from the pot to the fork. As the pan is rubbed against the plastic, static electricity is built up, much like in a cloud. The metal fork acts as a lightning rod and helps stabilize the charge, resulting in the spark.
Cut three lengths of bare wire about 6 inches long. Attach the ends of two wires to the terminals of a lantern battery. This battery should be no more powerful than a nine-volt battery. The other end of the wires should be attached, or taped with electrical tape, to a light bulb terminal. The light bulb will light as the circuit is completed through the bulb. Drop a third bare wire across the middle of the two wires attached to the battery and bulb. This third wire, touching the two bare wires, will short the circuit. The electricity no longer travels all the way to the bulb, but rather takes the easiest route back to the battery through the third wire.