The experiment that does not work: a discussion about the glass electrification in history and in physics textbooks

Abstract Since the beginnings of electricity research in the late XVI century, it was discovered that rubbing a glass object with a suitable substance causes this object to attract light bodies that are nearby. Over time, it was understood that glass is electrified by friction and the small bodies are electrified by induction at a distance. This simple experiment was later incorporated into the first electrostatic machines and soon became one of the classic electrostatic experiments in physics textbooks. In this article, we show that there may be more to this historical demonstration experiment than meets the eye, and that repeating this experiment in a school laboratory could be a terribly complicated affair.