Hi. It’s Winter again and the static electric at my home is horrible. I already have a humidifier on and am wearing cotton clothing. I’m trying to find a solution and there’s recommendation to touch something metal first (e.g. a key) instead of being shocked by any metallic door handles — I don’t get it? wouldn’t I just be shocked by the key instead? Thanks.
In: Physics
When I was younger, I worked in fabrication laboratory. We had a training course on static electricity. It was interesting that for us, being in a semi-arid climate with cold weather, carpeting and with employees wearing shoes and often sweaters, static discharge destorying components was a serious concern. Meanwhile, our competitors, often based out of the Pacific Rim, with high humidity, concrete floors and commonly barefoot, really had no issues with static discharge.
In my house, I find the sweet spot is around 17% humidity. If I keep my humidifier high enough to achieve at least that humidity percent, then I don’t experience shocks. If it drops below that, light switches, door knobs, etc., become “shocking”. I suspect you may need to increase your humidity.
If you walk on a carpet, especially in low humidity while dragging your feet, you may pick up a negative charge of electrons. When you touch or even as you approach to touch an object capable of receiving the charge (discharge), the charge “jumps” creating the spark and static discharge.
While touching a key might help discharge static electricity, it may not be as effective as touching a larger conductor (like plumbing pipes). This is because the surface area of contact affects the efficiency of charge transfer. The larger the surface area, the more charge can be discharged quickly.
Plumbing pipes are often grounded, meaning they are connected to the Earth. This provides a path for excess charge to dissipate safely, which isn’t necessarily the case with a small metal object like a key.
A light switch has conductive materials, live wires (albeit insulated) and is grounded, thus can receive a significant charge.
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