Who has never suffered a kind of whiplash maddening getting out of the car, touching a doorknob, or just bumping into someone else? It’s about the static electricity, a phenomenon caused by the imbalance between positive and negative charges that everything in the world has, including human beings.
This type of “electric shock” is often thought to be received from objects that are touched. But, in reality, it is the opposite: generally it is the same thing that gives the electric shock to the door or to the car, because the human body, as a good conductor that it is, has the capacity to charge static electricity in the face of certain actions. Daily life. How do these episodes occur?
In dialogue with the UNQ science news agency, Conicet physicist and researcher Federico Holik, He explains it like this: “All substances have electrons. Due to friction or other mechanisms, it can happen that these electrical charges build up in parts of your body. So when a conducting body (eg a metal door) is touched, these charges can flow due to a potential difference and generate a current. And that’s the current you feel.”
What is static electricity?
As the specialist explains, all materials are made up of atoms, which in turn are made up of a nucleus with positive particles (protons) around which one or more negative particles (electrons) move. Generally, the number of positive charges is equal to the number of negative charges. In this way, the loads are compensated, resulting in a neutral or, what is the same, zero load.
When there is friction, some atoms can lose or gain negative charges, generating a charge imbalance. An atom that loses one or more negative charges becomes positively charged, while an atom that gains one or more positive charges becomes negatively charged. This imbalance between charges is precisely static electricity. The spark is nothing more than a current of negative charges that migrate to a place with positive charges to restore balance, which is, in short, the absence of electrical charge (neutral or zero charge).
The static of everyday life
Throughout the day, humans rub against different surfaces and, as a consequence of this friction, one of the objects loses electrons (positive charge) while the other accumulates them (negative charge). Both charges tend to balance themselves again and take advantage of contact with a conductive surface, such as a door frame or doorknob, to release the “spark”.
For example, when a cap or hat is removed from the head, there is a transfer of electrons from the accessory to the hair, which accumulate a negative charge. And since objects of similar or equal charges repel each other, that’s why hair stands on end.
Rubber soles and woolen clothing they are also great accumulators of static energy. When released, you can even see the spark or hear the noise. When causing friction between certain materials – such as rubbing your feet on a rug, for example – there is a transfer of electrons, which accumulate on the surface until they are released.
Another interesting fact is that these static “kicks” are frequent during winter, since cold air contains less water vapor than when temperatures are higher. And to this is added that this time of year is when they usually wear warm clothes that are much more sensitive to electrostatic actions, such as wool.
How to avoid sparks in the body?
Although these phenomena are normal, it is not necessary to get used to them because they exist. different ways to minimize them or practically eliminate them. The easiest way to dissipate static electricity from the body is to wait. For example, if you feel your hair starting to stand on end, standing still can be a solution, as static dissipates naturally in just a few minutes.
Another way is to touch any conductive material that is not insulated from the ground, such as a light switch panel screw or a metal stud. It also works for taking off shoes and socks and lying on the floor. Another easy way to avoid this phenomenon is to apply moisturizer to dry skin, especially during winter when cold, dry air allows electrons to travel more easily.
The truth is, contrary to popular belief, there are no people who are especially conductive. What exists are people whose clothes can generate it. In short, it’s not all about the skin when it comes to “high voltage”.