Static electricity is more complicated than you think

How does friction cause static electricity? And why does static electricity occur more in winter? And how can you stop static electricity? This video explains the chemistry and physics of static electricity with prevention tips and an important warning.
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Charge carriers
0:46 Triboelectric series
2:17 Four mechanisms of charge separation
4:19 Why winter?
5:11 Preventing static shocks
Further reading:
What Creates Static Electricity? Meurig W. Williams: www.americanscientist.org/art...
Electrostatic Charging Due to Separation of Ions at Interfaces: Contact Electrification of Ionic Electrets Logan S. McCarty, George M. Whitesides onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...
I also recommend this story by William Beaty about rare static electricity in Hawaii and following the link to more stories about electrostatics: qr.ae/pri1Ae
Images:
Microwave: mike-b on Pexels.com
Electronics: Thisisengineering on Pexels.com
Visit us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram:
/ sannijuroku
/ sannijuroku
/ sannijuroku
Three Twentysix Project Leader: Dr Andrew Robertson
Assistant Editor: Purple Saptari
3D Animations: Es Hiranpakorn
Graphic Design: Maria Sucianto
Media: Diyon Weeratunga
This video was produced at Kyushu University and supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP21K02904. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kyushu University, JSPS or MEXT.

Пікірлер: 48

  • @markotrieste
    @markotrieste11 ай бұрын

    Finally a decent explanation of why humidity is such an important parameter for this phenomenon. Thanks!

  • @bismuth8366
    @bismuth8366 Жыл бұрын

    One good way to prevent shocks when exiting your car is to place your hand on the metal panel as you come out, this way the charges will flow to the car when you're sliding off your seat ! Credits to PhysicsGirl for that one. Great video once again, keep up the great work !

  • @ThreeTwentysix

    @ThreeTwentysix

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks, and yes, that's a great one. Touch the metal before you disconnect. And PhysicsGirl is always great.

  • @markotrieste

    @markotrieste

    11 ай бұрын

    Agree, it's the only thing that worked with my former car

  • @steved4429

    @steved4429

    9 ай бұрын

    I was just going to add this one as a comment, discovered it years ago by (painful!) trial and error.

  • @rogerfroud300
    @rogerfroud3009 ай бұрын

    The vacuum systems we used to have on our PCB routing machines used to build up huge charges if the wrong type of hoses were used. We had to use conductive plastic hoses that were earthed else you could get huge sparks that could jump 10mm or more. The problem seems to be that the fibreglass dust is extremely abrasive. You'll also notice that Petrol tankers have Earthing wires that must be connected before commencing pumping for the same reason.

  • @ogi22
    @ogi229 ай бұрын

    Another excellent video. Thank you! My dad, when he was a young engineer, helped to design a line producing plastic bottles. One part of such machines is a transport system for nurdles - small beads of plastic put into the extruder. And the best way is to transport that by pipes with air. Plastic beads moving in plastic pipes... Oh yes, REALLY nice voltage. Those pipes have grounding stripes allover, but it's impossible to remove all that charge, so you have to be careful... One day some guy from health and safety department wanted to make an inspection. And he just went under those pipes like it was a nice umbrella... He got shocked so hard, he just sat down where he was standing. I guess some people need a hard lesson to learn😅 My own experiences were not so spectacular. I guess i learned to be more careful earlier;) I used to install pneumatic post systems (hospitals and big markets). Those pipes also had static electricity, but not as severe.

  • @LiborTinka
    @LiborTinka7 ай бұрын

    I remember from school that rubbing fox tail on ebonite rod creates charge, demonstrated on an electrometer. Unfortunately, the teacer hasn't explained why, plus it got me even more perplexed for years: "Only these two specific materials do that? Why it happens? Does the heat of friction somehow converts to electricity? Is there physical or chemical change involved?" ... Your video explained a lot. I remember reading through "Triboelectric Effect" on Wikipedia, but I ended up having more questions then answers. BTW you can make a video about how fabric softeners work (they also create - or maybe remove? - static charges) and why air-dried textlie is less soft than textile from a tumble dryer (the static charges are removed there by physical means I think).

  • @manofcultura
    @manofcultura9 ай бұрын

    Another good way to think of static is to remember that the very notion of a physical object is simply the fact that electron shells around molecules repel each other. Without electro-negative repulsion, atoms and molecules would simply pass through each other. This repulsion also causes molecules to sometimes exchange and trade outer shell electrons in a non chemical manner. This builds up the electro-static charge which eventually causes things as grand as lightning or as small as a spark from wearing socks on a rug.

  • @andersemanuel
    @andersemanuel7 ай бұрын

    Clear and concise. Thanks 🤓

  • @peterjorgensen3
    @peterjorgensen38 ай бұрын

    Very helpful! Thanks!

  • @user-bh6ey1ke4n
    @user-bh6ey1ke4n4 ай бұрын

    5:50 Don't just "touch", but hit (as you did in the video) to leave less time for the arc to develop. Or just touch it with something conductive, like a key, so that the arc will hurt it instead of your hand.

  • @LilP6588

    @LilP6588

    3 ай бұрын

    Except it won’t hurt the key

  • @StixFerryMan
    @StixFerryMan9 ай бұрын

    I get strong shocks almost all year( I think it is when it is dry, dry summer, dry winter). And they are super strong. Will go through thick clothing. Can give of quite a loud crack, and even a bright, blue flash that can be seen in sunlight. And so strong that she regularly leave my finger, hand, where ever it hits, numb for some 10s of seconds. Once I even zapped another person who was leaning on the long metal kitchen bench, about 2 meters down. As I touched the bench, a very bright flash and the sound like someone breaking a thick stick. He screamed in shock and pain, limped around for about a minute or so with a numb butt cheek. Because he got the pain and numbing, I didn’t.

  • @TaserFish-qn2xy

    @TaserFish-qn2xy

    6 ай бұрын

    Dubious. Got any explanation why you'd be any different from the rest of us ?

  • @BenjaminCronce
    @BenjaminCronce9 ай бұрын

    For about half the the year, when I get out of my chair, I get zapped so hard by my chair that my wife's monitor 4' away loses signal for several seconds.

  • @Tom-qo9xu
    @Tom-qo9xu9 ай бұрын

    For years, both my dad and I were practically walking, talking, Tesla coils. Out of the family, it was only us. Couldn't touch any metal surface without a shock, and the point of discharge was often via the fingernails. For years we would literally earth ourselves. It worked, as in we stopped getting zapped, but it meant we had to touch the ground before: Opening doors (buildings and vehicles (entering vehicles was the problem, not exiting vehicles which was noticeably odd to us)) Each time we grabbed an item off a supermarket/store shelf. Before touching computer screens, computer cases, laptops, TV's, ATM's, etc. Bamboo socks ended up being the permanent solution to the problem. In my case, because I broke my foot without realising (I had my toenails smashed off and just assumed that was the source of weeks of pain) so I'm now a 9 and a 9.5 in shoe size. My left foot will slide around inside any shoe because shoes are only sold in matching pairs. Well, shoes I can afford.

  • @triple_gem_shining
    @triple_gem_shining8 ай бұрын

    Awesome

  • @purplesaptari5972
    @purplesaptari5972 Жыл бұрын

    The bit at 5:43 made me laugh 🤣 also this was so informative! i finally understand why i get more shocks in winter.

  • @ThreeTwentysix

    @ThreeTwentysix

    Жыл бұрын

    I shocked myself loads for this video. That's why I'm wearing that cardigan on that chair. I tried to catch and actual spark from my finger but it didn't come out.

  • @xlargetophat
    @xlargetophat7 ай бұрын

    Cool video

  • @jamesmnguyen
    @jamesmnguyen3 ай бұрын

    I used to get a static shock when leaving my car and touching the metal frame. So I learned to always maintain contact with the frame while getting out. This lets and static charge continuously equalize and no shocks are created.

  • @skun406
    @skun4066 ай бұрын

    In the winter, I wear boots with rubber soles, and the doorhandles gives me the shock. I used to touch the walls, or the floor, before grabbing the handle. I'll try the knuckles-first trick.

  • @RC-nq7mg
    @RC-nq7mg9 ай бұрын

    During winter in the dark at night when I was a child, I used to love pulling the bed covers over my head and rubbing my hair againts, and pulling it away and watching the miniature lightning storm that wad produced.

  • @LiborTinka

    @LiborTinka

    7 ай бұрын

    I did that, too! It looked like the blue luminescent algae in the sea getting excited when you swirl the water around :)

  • @bousbufats
    @bousbufats6 ай бұрын

    I love your videos, they are amazing, friendly and so educational. 👌😉

  • @damonsisk4270
    @damonsisk42709 ай бұрын

    Better solution in winter: keep your finger on the side of a metal key, and touch the end of the key to the door knob or whatever usually shocks you. You will not feel it at all!

  • @fireballferret8146
    @fireballferret81469 ай бұрын

    Maybe a knuckle hurts less than a fingertip, but I've found a trick that works even better. Any metal object, e.g. a paperclip. Touch that to the grounded furniture and you can see the spark, but feel almost nothing at all.

  • @ogi22

    @ogi22

    9 ай бұрын

    Yes, that's the correct way of removing your static charge without getting hurt. You can do a similar thing with a Tesla coil. If you have a rod, you can connect yourself without pain. Just don't make any mistakes then 😁

  • @khaliffoster3777
    @khaliffoster37776 ай бұрын

    So, the static electricity is depend on range of dual parallel different, the zero dual parallel different is exactly the same like shoes, both pair of shoe is same, so high dual parallel different is left is sneaker and right is boot, so when you have high two different to create an antibond which cause spark since it is so different, the higher the different, the higher the spark, so the metal cancel out since range of metal which is high or low, which is opposite of insulate, so it is a conductor, which means there is a hole so the spark will go out because it will seek the non-barrier, the non-exist, so a funnel path to go out, so like a water in a hole of glass that goes out, so the conductor is unstable, not stable as insulator since it is all close off, so the conductor is open, that means if you have metal so it will attach to other and hurt you, if you have insulator it will not hurt you since it is a barrier, so it is seeking (the proverb like attract, unlike attract), seeking the attract as oppose to itself which is opposite of external, like metal to non-metal, so insulator is opposite of conductor, so, everything is about balance open / close, etc, so you say earth as cancel out the electricity so that means too many open to cause spark which is connect to dirty electricity since there is no close off like earthing so the earth is an insulator, so need a barrier, so dirty electricity is open, so has no barrier so it will attack you since within you there is an open that pull electricity to break apart something, so your dual parallel different within you is weaker than external, so always have a ground so the ground represent what is full and what is stable. So, ya can make video about conductor and insulator, so what make them and what make stable and how to create stable, so what create negative 1, 2, and so on which represent unstable, and positive 1, 2, which represent stable, so it is connect to atomic theory or so, ya make it, so even connect to conductor band, so how all work from beginning to end, all of it, the whole reality. Be careful so ya will tell them to become a magician so to create a reality so not need government or so, so make it free, well, like a magician but science. Not rely on money but on material which you can create.

  • @DanteGabriel-lx9bq
    @DanteGabriel-lx9bq4 ай бұрын

    Once, I got struck by such a static lightning force that I became the fastest man alive. Then I woke up....

  • @Chris-op7yt
    @Chris-op7yt9 ай бұрын

    vacuuming wall plaster dust, from sanding, gives me zaps when i touch any metal.

  • @kingofthend
    @kingofthend Жыл бұрын

    I like getting static shocks.

  • @ThreeTwentysix

    @ThreeTwentysix

    Жыл бұрын

    I hate them so much, I take anti-static precautions for months after they're necessary 😄

  • @RoGeorgeRoGeorge

    @RoGeorgeRoGeorge

    9 ай бұрын

    Keep in your hand something metallic, for example a key (or some other good electric conductor material). Make sure the skin touches the metal firmly. Touch the door knob with your keys first, then with the hand. No more electric shocks. :o)

  • @Darthvanger
    @Darthvanger9 ай бұрын

    We can break molecules by rubbing? Awesome ❤‍🔥

  • @LiborTinka

    @LiborTinka

    7 ай бұрын

    That's why plastic bag won't last long - the polymer molecules get shorter and shorter as the bag is moved around to the point of literally torn to pieces by the wear-and-tear. When made, the whole bag is basically a single macroscopic molecule, then it fragments into more and more interwoven noodles.

  • @frogz
    @frogz9 ай бұрын

    dunno why youtube JUST showed me this video but... fun fact: you arnt feeling the electricity itself, you are feeling the little tiny spot where the shock burnt your skin/nerves also, if you hold onto something conductive and touch the other object with the conductive object, the spark will hit the object rather than you, it can be anything from a piece of metal to some steak, you can use steak to discharge your body when excusing yourself from dinner!

  • @cherylm2C6671

    @cherylm2C6671

    9 ай бұрын

    ? Charm bracelet or one of the old fashioned secretary key bracelets?

  • @WorthlessWinner
    @WorthlessWinner9 ай бұрын

    I hope you don't get any static shocks in the lab when near flammable chemicals O_O

  • @annoyingbstard9407
    @annoyingbstard94072 ай бұрын

    I thought it was far more complicated than this.

  • @ssl3546
    @ssl35469 ай бұрын

    The guy in Japan, where three-prong receptacles are virtually non-existent, tells people to earth their electrical appliances

  • @JavSusLar
    @JavSusLar9 ай бұрын

    1:29 where in this series is HAIR??? I suppose close to wool, which is lamb hair... But it is important in our everyday experience of static electricity.

  • @USAACbrat
    @USAACbrat9 ай бұрын

    if you have wool carpets, shampoo them,

  • @shawnlopiccolo5628
    @shawnlopiccolo5628Ай бұрын

    Yeah but if humidity is bad for static electricity, and if lightning is a form of static electricity, then explain Florida.

  • @piedpiper1172

    @piedpiper1172

    29 күн бұрын

    It’s really cold up in the clouds, even when it’s super hot on the ground.

  • @onenhere6458
    @onenhere64587 ай бұрын

    4:11 ~ 4:17 inspires the Dislike button. More animated for empty publicity than the chosen topic? Wrong aim. Animation comes from human joyful interaction. Button-pressing is private signal. Never substitute dialogue.

  • @iHATEbigots666
    @iHATEbigots6669 ай бұрын

    I want to learn to manipulate static electricity for the purposes of cleaning! Lol sometimes its hard to get all crumbs and hairs