Kathy Bottcher, age 11, of Phoenix Arizona, for her question:

What causes electricity in the hair?

Sometimes your hair clings to the brush and frolics around acting as if it had a playful mind of its own. Of course, this is not so because hair is made of dead cells that have no life of their own. But all things, living or non living, are made of tiny atoms. And the nucleus cure of an atom is orbited by a number of electrons. Every mini electron bears one charge of frisky electricity    which is what causes your silky hair to fly around and cling to the comb.

Brushing or combing the hair causes electrons in the hair cells to break free from their atoms. Each electron takes with it a charge of negative electricity. In the world of atoms, negative and positive electricity are attracted to each other. The loose negative electrons and the positive protons in the atomic nucleus try to pull together., This is what creates the frisky static electricity in your hair.