Static electricity shock in your home

Kevin J Bergollo Lorenzo

When the cool and dry weather is around almost everything you touch made you feel an electric shock. This effects are very common for those how live in near to the north were the temperature are low then 50oC. Static electricity is refers to the buildup of electric charge on the surface of object, when electrons move from one surface to another through contact. All material is made of electrical charges in the material atoms. In the universe there are equal amount of positive charge and negative charge, these particles always try to stay in balance by Coulomb’s law F=(Q_1 Q_2)/(4πr^2 ε_0 ), forcing the same amount of particles to move from one side to another. When one object is in contact with another object some of the charges redistribute from one material to the other. The electric field is created when charges are moved by a force, E=F/q. If one of the charge materials touches a conductor, like a metal, the charge will neutralize itself, living positive charge on one object and the same amount in negative charge on the other, Gauss' law states that "the total electric flux through a closed surface is proportional to the total electric charge enclosed within the surface", so the potential difference is ΔV=∮_s^ ▒〖E*dA〗. 

So, why you feel a static shock when you made contact with some metal, like the doorknob? Well, most of the people have insulator in their homes and in them self, like the rubber soles of a shoes or a wool carpet in the floor. When you walk on that wool carpet, your body builds up a charge it can’t get rid of because the insulator of the shoes. The air when it dry work like insulator, that why static electricity are more common in dry winter months, that so when you touch that metal doorknob feels el shock in it. Walking around is not the only way to generate electric static, some time sitting in a chair and creating contact between your clothes and the chair can generate a lot of static on your clothes. While the body stays on contact with the chair your body voltage stays low, if the body is separated from the chair, take the charge with it, rising up your body voltage. Not all people feel the same way with the same amount of charge in the body. Some people are more sensitive to shocks than others, for some people the range for feeling the electricity is 2.00V – 4.00V. In other cases some bodies store more static electricity, all depends on the size of the bodies, the size on the feet and the thickness of the shoe soles. Some of the remedies to lower the electrostatic in your home are raising the air humidity to a 40-50% with a humidifier. Also is prefer to use leather soles shoes, there are some antistatic sprays available to treat chair and other furniture. The spark can provoke fire or even worst can be extremely dangerous in combination of a combustion gas.