Leyden Jar Demo

Rub a piece of PVC pipe with fur as it slides past the nail (on top of clear plastic bottle). Electrons jump from the PVC to the nail and flow into the salty water. In the meantime, electrons in the foil (wrapped around bottle) are repelled, so they follow a ground wire to the faucet. The result is a positively charged foil and negatively charged salt-water - It's like a battery. After disconnecting the ground wire, all we need is a conductor to connect the foil and the nail. That's where the students come in.

Here's a link to the video I used to make the Leyen Jar. I did it a little differently - For one, I connected the foil to a water faucet usin a copper wire and tape. Also, I used a fur to charge the PVC.