Getting Clean with Physics

Laundry is always being done at my house. There always seems to be dirty clothes from dirty baseball uniforms to stained t-shirts. In my house we have a whole room dedicated to laundry, the lovely laundry room. Whenever I do laundry, I notice that when I take the clothes out of the dryer they tend to stick together. This is because there is static electricity which, in this case, is caused by friction. When the clothes are spinning around some of the lose electrons and some of them gain electrons. This then gives them opposite charges causing them to stick together. Static electricity is very common in dry places, where there is no moisture. The dryer is definitely a dry place making a good place for static electricity. To help decrease the amount of static electricity in the dryer, we like to use dryer sheets. They also help make our clothes smell good.