Skip to main content

STATIC ELECTRICITY

What is Static Electricity?http://en.wikipedia.org  
Static electricity refers to the build up of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. Static electricity can be contrasted with current (or dynamic) electricity, which can be delivered through wires as a power source. Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into contact and separate, a static charge only remains when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow (an electrical insulator). The effects of static electricity are familiar to most people because we can feel, hear, and even see the spark as the excess charge is neutralized when brought close to a large electrical conductor (for example, a path to ground), or a region with an excess charge of the opposite polarity (positive or negative). The familiar phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge. continue..


To understand the Van de Graaff generator and how it works, you need to understand static electricity. Almost all of us are familiar with static electricity because we can see and feel it in the winter. On dry winter days, static electricity can build up in our bodies and cause a spark to jump from our bodies to pieces of metal or other people's bodies. We can see, feel and hear the sound of the spark when it jumps In science class you may have also done some experiments with static electricity. For example, if you rub a glass rod with a silk cloth or if you rub a piece of amber with wool, the glass and amber will develop a static charge that can attract small bits of paper or plastic. continue..

You walk across the rug, reach for the doorknob and..........ZAP!!! You get a static shock. 
Or, you come inside from the cold, pull off your hat and......BOING!!! Static hair - that static electricity makes your hair stand straight out from your head. What is going on here? And why is static more of a problem in the winter?
To understand static electricity, we have to learn a little bit about the nature of matter. Or in other words, what is all the stuff around us made of? continue..

Static electricity is an electric charge built up on persons or objects through friction. It is most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations. When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics, or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and discharging static electricity. continue..

Static electricity can be a problem whenever the humidity is low. It causes shocks and makes dust stick to surfaces, and it can literally make your hair stand on end. In this experiment, you will see that it also can move things around.
For this experiment you will need:
a nylon comb
a water faucet
Adjust the faucet to produce a small stream of water. The stream should be about 1.5 millimeters (1/16 inch) in diameter. continue..

Although static electricity can be a nuisance--like getting shock when you tough a doorknob or static cling on your clothes--it has a number of beneficial uses. The forces of attraction caused by static electricty are used in air pollution control, automobile painting, and xerography or copy machines.
Being curious, questions you may have are:
How can static electricity stop smoke stack pollution?
What happens to freshen the air?
How does a Xerox machine work?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FRUITS AS BATTERY AND SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY

Electric Fruits Project   The purpose of this project was to find out which fruit would generate enough electricity to light a light bulb and to discover which fruit would light the bulb the longest. To conduct my experiments I used a Multimeter, copper and zinc wires & electrodes, alligator clips with leads, various light bulbs and five types of fruits. continue.. Why Do Citrus Fruits Produce Electricity?   In order to generate electricity, there must be a power source and a complete circuit. When using a citrus fruit to create electricity, these rules still apply. In a simple experiment using a citrus fruit, the components of the circuit include: a lemon or other fruit, wire, two different metal elements and a small light bulb. The lemon in this circuit serves as the battery and power source. continue.. Fruit Power Project   Purpose To demonstrate how an electrical current can be generated using citrus fruits (such as lemons or li...
2 comments
continue

POWER SYSTEMS LOSS.COM: LOSSES IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

What is powersystemsloss all about?    System's loss reduction is now one of the most growing trends in every electric distribution utility. Primarily triggered by economics and regulation concerns, Transmission and Distribution companies now sets more focus in reducing losses and become as an efficient utility as possible in delivering power. Information found in this site will be very useful not only to electrical practitioners but it is also our goal to help students better understand the actual world. Thank you and lets all enjoy learning! continue..   Back to basic    n case you don't know, the power we get from our household electrical outlet didn't just appear in the thin air. It may appear that it is coming out from our walls but we all know that looks can be deceiving. Before reaching our respective homes, electric current passes through miles and miles of c...
Post a Comment
continue

INDUCTION COOKER:PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

What is Induction Cooking?   Induction cooking uses induction heating to directly heat a cooking vessel, as opposed to using heat transfer from electrical coils or burning gas as with a traditional cooking stove. To be used on an induction cooktop, a cooking vessel must be made of a ferromagnetic metal, or placed on an interface disk which enables non-induction cookware to be used on induction surface. In an induction cooker, a coil of copper wire is placed underneath the cooking pot. An alternating electric current flows through the coil, which produces an oscillating magnetic field. This field induces an electric current in the pot. Current flowing in the metal pot produces resistive heating which heats the food. While the current is large, it is produced by a low voltage. continue.. Advantage and Disadvantages of Induction Cooker   To serious cooks, the most important favorable point about induction cookers--given that they are as or more "powerful" at heating...
10 comments
continue