Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The effects of static electricity are familiar to most people because they can feel, hear, and even see sparks if the excess charge is neutralized when brought close to an electrical conductor (for example, a path to ground), or a region with an excess charge of the opposite polarity (positive or negative).
[5] [6] Larger currents can result in tissue damage and may trigger ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest. [7] If death results from an electric shock the cause of death is generally referred to as electrocution. Electric injury occurs upon contact of a body part with electricity that causes a sufficient current to pass through the person ...
A branch of the electronics industry deals with preventing static charge build-up and protecting products against electrostatic discharge. Notably, a combination of footwear with some sole materials, low humidity, and a dry carpet can cause footsteps to charge a person's body capacitance to as much as a few tens of kilovolts with respect to the ...
Styrofoam peanuts cling to a cat's fur due to the charge of static electricity that builds up on the fur as a result of the cat's motions. Static cling is the tendency for light objects to stick (cling) to other objects owing to static electricity. It is common in clothing, but occurs with other items, such as the tendency of dust to be ...
Electrical shocks on humans can lead to permanent disabilities or death. Size, frequency and duration of the electrical current affect the damage. [8] The effects from electric shock can be: stopping the heart beating properly, preventing the person from breathing, causing muscle spasms. The skin features also affect the consequences of ...
Other physical injury can be caused by objects damaged or thrown by the lightning strike. For example, lightning striking a nearby tree may vaporize sap, and the steam explosion often causes bark and wood fragments to be explosively ejected. Lightning strikes can also induce a transient paralysis known as 'keraunoparalysis'. [3]
For a burn to be classified as electrical, electricity must be the direct cause. For example, burning a finger on a hot electric steam iron would be thermal, not electrical. According to Joule's first law: electricity passing through resistance creates heat, so there is no current entering the body in this type of burn. Likewise, a fire that is ...
Such voltage differences can also create electric sparks, similar to a discharge of static electricity when nearly touching a grounded object. When receiving such a shock at 5 kV/m, it was reported as painful by only 7% of test participants and by 50% of participants at 10 kV/m. [22]