Avoid electric shock getting out of a car!
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- As the weather gets colder and dryer, you are more likely to get shocked when getting out of a car, touching a door knob, or doing laundry. Is there a way to prevent getting shocked on the car door?
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Host/Writer: Dianna Cowern
Editor: Jabril Ashe (sefdstuff.com/s...)
Thanks to Brad at UCSD for letting me use the Van de Graaff generator!
Who is here after uncountable shocks by car door?🤣🤣
Me😂 🙋🏻♂️
Me my truck does it every time at night i can see the spark
Me too 😂😂
Here
A can of Static Guard is great!
I'm seriously static prone, so I get shocked by everything ALL THE TIME (mostly in the winter). I've been waiting for this video my whole life. I'm totally trying the hand on the car trick and will let you know the results. As for the dryer sheets, they work wonders. In the winter, I make a habit of carrying a couple around with me wherever I go.
+The Science Asylum REALLY?? I didn't know that people actually used dryer sheets for something like this.
+The Science Asylum Yep, I've known lots of people that use the dryer sheet trick.
Physics Girl REALLY!!! I have to carry them. The shock pain gets real old real quick...
+The Science Asylum Just FYI, synthetic materials will tend to cause more static too, rubbing two synthetic together doubly so.
I use the dryer sheet technique on clothing as well as trying to keep myself grounded like the video. The carpet in my office is very static. There are carpets designed specifically to be anti-static, usually for offices and anywhere expensive electronics are used. There is also carpet sprays that prevent static buildup.
Styrofoam can develop a large static charge very easily, and it is therefore not supposed to be placed in an ESD sensitive environment where sensitive electronics can be damaged. The fact that it is an insulator just means that it will not conduct a continuous DC current after it develops a charge. One analogy it to think of it as a capacitor. The center of a capacitor consists of an insulator, and will block DC current, yet the entire purpose of the capacitor is to hold a charge.
+Eugene Khutoryansky I just commented that vendors would ship me memory with styrofoam peanuts, computer nerd WTF moment.
+GlassTopRX7 memory doesn't seem too prone to static destruction. my friends used to just keep a ton of sticks in a cardoard box. just tossed in there like a child's toy box.
*****
The static charge of a card board box is small compared to box of styrofoam peanuts.
GlassTopRX7 yeah but just being tossed around in amongst a box of other stuff equals more static than Styrofoam. May have been some in the boxes. I noticed one of my parts was in a regular plastic bag once
Memory is conductive so it's not going to build up a static charge, cardboard boxes tend to hold too much moisture to problematic on their own. Styrofoam is non conductive so it can build up an electric charge and hold it.
It takes about 100v of ESD to damage ram, a box full of peanut can easily generate and hold over 10,000v of ESD. It's fine right up to the point when you reach in the box to grab a stick and it discharges.
It's exactly what was demonstrated in this video. There are new starch based peanuts that are conductive enough not pose much of a risk.
I love those moments where you have no idea what's going on and get to learn something new
Excellent video as always. I would also add that what's painful is not the electrical discharge current but rather the flux, that is the amount of current across a given skin area. So a good way of avoiding the pain of the shock would be to touch your car with an open palm after exiting, rather than touching it with just the tip of your finger.
That would have the added benefit of giving the flux fewer nerve endings to affect.
Haha. I used to have a car that shocked me every single time I got out. The shock didn't really hurt, but the bad part was KNOWING it was about to happen. I used to park that car and for a few seconds before getting out I would sit there like "Ooooooohhhhhh dammit" :(
Haha i brought a 99 honda crv and it gets me every time i shut the door behind me. What fuse do i remove?? Lol
I only got shocked once! When I was with my cousin and I was charging my tablet and even was my cousin then he accidently touched my leg and we got shocked
My Mitsubishi outlander sport does the same thing
I literally do that 😂
Exactly... I was looking for solutions ... I was doing the same thing 🤣🤣🤣
Take your car's ignition key(or a door key if you have a proximity key), and after you get out, tap the car with it. If it sparks, you won't be the point of exit, the key will, and it won't hurt.
I discovered this when I put a key in a deadbolt and it sparked, though I didn't feel it. Works for doorknobs too.
Alternate clickbait title: This girl simply got out of her car. What happens next is SHOCKING!!
you sir, won the comment battle.
Lol I get it
😅😅
😂 nice!
It technically isn't clickbait though if you think about it 😂
My dad used to carry a key when he was touching a door so the key would get the shock, not him when he touched something metallic, like a doorknob or a gate. Works like a charm ;)
Lol xd life hacks
I do that too!!
Don't do that, in the event a shock ever happens and fries the chip in the key...
I always plan to do it, but I forget every time
I once worked in a building where the combination of the carpet and my shoes caused a shock every time I touched metal, so I would touch everything with a key first. People laughed at me, until I walked up to them and touched them with my key.
what to do when in winter you go for groceries and after dragging the shopping cart in superstore when you touch any metal stand or metal post you get same shock....even though shopping carts are mostly metal made and you are touching them during shopping but when you touch any other metal stand, display, pole or post in store or outside you get this shock......what to do for that?...........i think its same situation as you described but different scenario.
I experienced that. I used to put drawing-pins in the heels of my shoes, so I was slowly discharging into the carpet all the time.
The shopping cart has rubber wheels, so it builds up a charge. Hospital trolleys have conductive wheels to avoid that, you will see them, coloured yellow.
This should be a… well not serial killer… maybe a horror character “key shock” or “shock key”
I love the feeling of static shock. I will purposely shock myself at work and at home. When I get shocked, I get the ASMR tingles in my head. It feels so good!
Your tip on getting discharged when getting down from car was legit..
Thanks..saved me from loads of shocks
Great video Dianna!
Nice comment Jabrils
@Petr Toman ikrrrrr
I love getting shocks when getting out of the car, it makes me feel so ALIVE!
BDSM :3
Yeah the pain and sadness keeps me going
Menace to society
Makes you feel like Palpatine. "Unlimited power!"
Great car tip. Mystery solved! You have made my life less painful now that I know how to avoid shocks. Thank you.
I'm so glad i found this channel. I've been a physics "enthusiast" since highscool and now being in my thirties i still love this kind of videos.
I'm going to show the mirror video to my niece, it's going to "flip" her mind. Keep up the good work.
Getting shocked on touching Car Door is easy *_but acting normal the moment you get shocked in public is the problem_*
That's why I used to asked my friends to open the door for me..and see if they get electocuted first😂
It's always funny when I'm swatting at my door like a cat to make the shock quicker haha
2:47 for quick answer. Whole video is good though.
It's worth mentioning that with all but the largest static shocks the only reason you feel them is due to the heat of the spark against your skin. In other words, the static discharge is causing you a very localised burn. This is the reason you don't feel a static shock if you touch the car door (or door handle, or metal banister) with your keys: you are isolated from the heat of the spark.
I'm going to try this because even if I put my hand on the metal of my car while getting out I still feel the static it's just not coming as one big shock but it's still super uncomfortable to me. 😭
Science is so much funner when you get unexpected results. Because that means that more is happening then meets the eye and you are compelled to figure out exactly what is REALLY happening.
Thank you so much for explaining this 😁🤗. Three days now without a shock from the car ❤️
To Physics girl i am a disabled person (wheelchair) with a normal education . I was really bad at science and I did not like it, however your videos have generated a certain amount of interest and you deserve all the praise you get. There should be more people like you in the world. You are far better than anything that is on TV today and many people can benefitt from your knowledge and expierance. Just a thought for a future video matbe you can do one on how physics csn hrlp disabled people live their lives.
Another solution is to never go outside, or move! Easy peasy!
no its not a solution
@@hafsakhalil7458 it is
Earth belt
You mean Corona?
you're 5 years too early
Thanks for the video. Another easy way to not get shocked leaving a car is to cover your seat with cotton fabric (assuming you are usually wearing cotton). It's the combination of different materials that creates the charge separation, so if seat and clothes are the same fabric, no charge builds up.
Also, to make your hair stand up better with a VDG generator, here are two tricks I've found: (based on doing it hundreds of times with students)
- Dampening your hair with a spray bottle makes it work a lot better (yes, counter-intuitive)
- Standing on a plastic stool to insulate you from the ground is super important too.
I've never been shocked getting out of a car before, so ironically this video has made me resolve to try and get shocked doing so.
I get shocked every single time I get out of my car unless it’s raining out and I’m tired of it. I’m gonna try it right now and see if it works I have a feeling it’s because I have fabric seats and I slide out of my vehicle cause it’s an SUV.
It worked. I held onto the side of my car when I exited. Thank you very much.
+Physics Girl The touching-the-car-metal-before-stepping-out trick works often, but sometimes if the car itself is charged, it could discharge through your toes to ground. Have you ever had this? Cool demo with the styrofoam plate, btw - a useful principle for keeping particulate-dust off (plastic) workpieces while e.g. laser-machining.
+Aditya Mehendale
it WILL discharge through your toes, but much slower because the shoe acts as a resistance and you wouldn't feel it. :)
+sbraz Actually, if your shoes *were* conducting (just like holding a large metallic key) you wouldn't feel the zap. "Regular" shoes, on the other hand, are insulating, and while this will increase the breakdown-voltage by a lot, it is still comparable to the breakdown voltage in air. To turn your argument around: If you were wearing a pair of (insulating) rubber gloves, would you not feel the zap while stepping out of the car? Hm, we really need to try this out sometime...
Aditya Mehendale the problem experimenting with this is being able to tell for sure if i'm about to be zapped or not. XD
I'm a mailman and get shocked 100 times a day getting out of my truck in the winter. No longer!! Thank you!!!!
Nope nope nope, this is not entirely true. The reason you get zapped by your car most of the time is NOT due to friction between you and the car seat. It is due to the friction of the air against the car itself which charges the car body. Engineers already SOLVED this problem: carbon black in the tires. The carbon in the tires usually is conductive enough to discharge whatever charge builds up during driving. However, when the electrical resistance of your tires is too high, or if you have very old, non-carbonized tires, the body of your car can build up an amazing amount of charge. The instant your feet hit the ground, they are at earth potential. If you then touch the car: it will discharge through you.
Anyway: for anyone who has problems with getting zapped by their car: you can buy special rubber flaps with steel wire inside that drag over the road, called grounding straps, thus creating a nice grounding point. It will still be possible to get zapped by your car due to friction on your car seat, but that should be a very minor issue.
Also: if you get shocked by your car from friction between you and the seat, you should be able to shock yourself when you are inside the car and charge yourself up by wiggling heavily in your seat. If you're only able to shock yourself when your feet touch the ground: you need a ground strap.
+Physics Girl: I think you didn't do the story justice by not including the air friction explanation, as it is far more likely. Also: the styrofoam on top of the Van De Graaff is charged by electrostatic induction.
+LReBe7
Dude! You are actually ryt! But i want you to watch this video again!
And apparently she is wearing a footwear which is an insulator and so the shock experienced in THIS CASE is because of the friction between you and the seat!
SO +Physics Girl is ryt!
Akshaya Ravi
Of course her footwear is an insulator, but when dealing with static electricity that can shock you, were talking about several kilovolts. Obviously the power is very small, otherwise it would kill you, but the electrical potential is extremely high(it wouldn't be able to spark across a gap if it weren't so high). But the insulation of her soles doesn't matter much, as long as the spark can bridge the gap, there will be current.
The paint on the car is also an insulator, but the car still shocked her. Insulators have a high resistance, not infinite resistance. And all must obey Ohm's law. Your point is not proven.
The only way I would consider believing this theory of getting zapped because the friction of getting out of the seat, is by seeing someone step out of the car onto a glass plate or a plastic stool and then touch the car. Or even better: when I see someone fidgeting violently in their seat and touching the car body while they're still inside the car.
I want to eliminate the ground potential from the equation before I prefer the much less energetic source of static electricity(getting out of your seat) over the much more energetic source(friction from the air). Occam's razor.
+LReBe7
puff...!
brainy u r! no comments!
Nice explanation. But tell me one thing. Can you explain why she didn't feel any shock in the last minutes of her video? If she was charged and the car wasn't, then her explanation makes sense. Because, she prevented to create a big gap. But, if you said that the car became charged by the air friction, then can we say that she was faking that part? Because there was no way that she could reduce the gap between the car's and her's as the car had been charged so big.
+Muhammad Ichsan I would assume that was faked, because it doesn't look like your typical dry winter day. I can't know for sure, Physics Girl will have to tell us herself.
This is good advice for people who fill up at self serve gas stations. Static charges have, on occasion, resulted in the ignition of gas fumes while pumping gas.
I get shocked nonstop in the winter months. I wish it were a superpower BUT it's annoying. People think I'm crazy but when I go to open doors I smack them with the back of my hand first or just use my elbow. When I take my jacket off at home I'll smack the wall a few time or get my kids to high five me REAL hard. I broke my toe once from kicking a wall after a static shocked angered me to hulk status. Yep. Static. The struggle is real. Thankfully I've figured out bizarre methods to minimize it. :)
Maybe there's an element of your clothes or your shoes that contributes to your predicament. And this is why i don't wear cheap jackets or cheap shoes in winter.
what's your bizarre method?! That might help me.
You have helped me enough I was thinking that maybe I got sick because every time when I get out of a car or when I want to touch something I was feeling shock I was even planning to find Doctor to ask about that issue but your video helped me enough I can't thank you enough
Ah, thank you very much for the tip, I fear it every time I get out of a car !
I love how you explain it with your hands.
This is actually really important before you fill up at a gas station. If you are charged and cause a spark, you can ignite the fuel!
I used to work in a place that handled components with microchips. We had training to avoid causing damage with electrostatic discharge. Some of the training included films with scenes from gasoline stations where there had been fires caused by sparks igniting fuel.
The spark isn't anywhere near powerful enough to ignite it
@@ploperdung There have been studies of HUNDREDS of fires at gas stations and most of them are caused by women getting out of their vehicles after having gotten back inside WHILE FUELING. Yes, the tiniest spark can, in fact, ignite gasoline fumes, which may be invisibly swirling around you, and then you pull the nozzle from the tank without ALSO touching the car with your other hand (to keep the electrical charge gradient small).
Do you actually believe that? 🤔
that literally will not happen. Ever.
I'm getting shocked by the car all the time lately and it's really hot these days. It's also very dry, so maybe humidity is the most important factor.
A good way to not ignite a fire when fueling your vehicle is to do the touch-the-metal trick when exiting EVERY time. Then you won't have an electric potential built when you go to put your hands by the fuel port, preventing a spark
A needed n helpful trick!
Thank you so much!! This CONSTANTLY happens to me whenever I get out of my car, and it really hurts. I thought it was just because I wear jeans and have cloth seats-yes, I know that's the basis of it. But this was so helpful in understanding why!
I deliver pizza and get shocked almost everytime I leave the car (and I leave the car a lot of times per night :( ). I hope your trick can help me! Thanks for the video ♪♫
+ViolettaSachra As long as you're not carrying the pizza when you put your hand on the car, which could end in a larger disaster.
+Physics Girl pizzaster!
Physics Girl Haha, I'll try to think of that :P
You have a cool job
+ViolettaSachra It's sliding across the car seat toward the door that creates the charge. To bleed off the charge while it is trying to build up, you should place your (left) hand on the metal edge of the open door before you step out onto the ground. This should work every time.
I just got shocked a couple times, and now I know how to void it! Thanks lady
Thank you. I was getting tired of shocking the pump at the gas station. The display on the pump was actually going blank for about 5 seconds before coming back on. It was making me 5 seconds late to work, so yeah, thanks.
Thank God someone addressed this issue. Regards from a victim of this violent event so many times that I can't event remember now.
Last time i was getting shock when hug a girl. Because i realized her boyfriend standing while starring at me
A way to stop a shock from doorknobs, etc. is to touch them with something metallic, eg. a key, first. The ionisation happens at the tip of the key not your skin.
In the reflection on the generator you can see the whole room, but not the camera. Isn't this weird? :)
Look at 1:50 carefully, you’ll get your answers
@@EbrahimMamawala Here in 2021 aye
To avoid/minimize getting shocked by touching a doorknob, I hold the metal part of a key between my thumb and finger, then use that to touch the doorknob. The spark will leave the key, not my hand. If it's really cold and dry out, the noise and spark, combined with the anticipation of a _potential_ shock, still makes me jump a little, but at least the pain isn't there. :-)
+Chris Clark I do the exact same thing!
+Chris Clark I do this too. This way you can still see the spark and hear the pop without feeling it. It's pretty cool to see your own personal tiny lightning bolt.
+SergeofBIBEK ☺️
I used to face that problem with my other car. I ended up just closing the door by pushing the window thus insulating myself from the chassis
Thanks
I end up pushing the window just like u but after that u will get sock if u touch other metal
ah you are the car in the parking lot with hand prints all over the driver side window....
This is the first time ever for me to subscribe to a channel after watching only one video.
Your explanation is amazing.
1. Did you maybe ground yourself while trying to get your hair get charged?
2. (Especially for the kids) hang a ping pong ball about 5-10 cm next to the van de graaf generator and see what happens. (You can paint the ball with graphite spray paint to make the surface conducting to amplify the effect, but it should work with a normal ping pong ball)
+Nyt Mare I actually threw ping pong balls at the VDG generator, and nothing happened. it was a really disappointing clip :)
+Physics Girl It should have bounced off really fast, maybe the contact was too short for a lot of charge to flow...
+Physics Girl The cool thing about letting it hang is that the ball gets attracted and then bounces off...
Great video!
I remember reading that in gas stations ignition of vapors through these static induced sparks are much more common with young, fit people than with elders, for example, because the elders hold to the metal to support themselves, which grounds them. Younger, more fit people end up never grounding themselves before touching the vapor-rich tank opening: WHOOSH!
just get out of your car and go up to your friends and touch them on the ear
I actually figured out the car trick myself a while back since I tend to get shocked a lot. Although, it is nice to see the science instead of just deductive reasoning.
0:15 that's never happened to me. I've never been hugged... ='{
I tested this out, and I can guarantee it works everytime. I have yet to get shocked and my whole family does it, works for all of us!
This is me. Every. Damn. Time.
+MrC0MPUT3R Used to happen to me, but I figured out the same cure as PG many years ago.
thanks a ton dear. i was totally frustrated with this electric shock i use to get every time when i use get out of my car. ur tricks really helped me
Anti-static keychain is 5 bucks on Amazon. Plus it's fancy! Lot's of carpets, door-knobs and cold weathers where I live...
what makes it work? does it work? seems like a gag.
It happens to me every single time I get out of the car!!! Thanks Diana.
So... How do I prevent getting shocked when I'm pushing around a shopping cart??
Hopefully, the store designers selected flooring material and shopping cart wheel material to be compatible, so not to cause shopping carts to build up electrostatic charge. But, not always. I heard about one store that had a terrible opening week because the designers didn't do that. The flooring material and shopping cart wheels were a great combo for generating static charge.
I used to just think it was just me that had this problem....
Handy tip.
If you suspect you are charged but you need to quickly go out that door.
Hold a key tightly and touch the knob with it first. If there's a discharge it will spread over the surface of your fingers that is touching the key eliminating the single point arc to your skin that causes you pain.
Stupid question but you did make sure to insulate yourself from ground at the end there right? Just asking because you didn't seem taller and most shoes will do just about nothing for that experiment.
I'm in Riyadh. It's too dry and cold outside. And I'm sitting in my car. I tired of getting zapped every time I leave my car. I saw this video last winters, didn't apply it. Now it's too serious for me.
Saved. Thanks alot
Saudi Arabia bad, Go to Dubai
No more kicking the car's door to close anymore ... Thank you
Honestly, I finally remembered to buy Dryer Sheets today simply because I got shocked while getting out of my truck on my way into the store to purchase batteries; because obviously I needed more electricity. ;-) I am thankful to finally have been shown the pre-grounding technique , it seems so obvious now. I have used dryer sheets on my cloths seats and that coupled with actually using them on my cloths in the dryer does dramatically damper the effect. Cool vid. Thanx!
How to stop yourself from getting shocked while getting out of the car
.
.
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Take the bus
+Ian Cloyd Ha ha ha. Good one, boss.
+Ian Cloyd She will make the video of How to not get shocked exiting a bus. When it be made, and people say:
How to stop yourself from getting shocked exiting a bus
.
.
.
Go by bike
She will make the video: How to not get shocked exiting a bike. And it will be forever happening. Some day she will make the video: How to not get shocked exiting a UFO, and in the "playlists" section, there will be a playlist called "How to not get shocked exiting a vehicle".
+Ian Cloyd -- Incorrect. That's how to avoid getting out of the car by not getting in in the first place. Presumably, that's one of the conditions of the problem, being in the car. IOW, the more detailed wording of the question would be, "If one gets shocked while exiting a car, how does one avoid the shock in this circumstance?"
Furthermore, if you took the bus, you would have a host of new problems, avoiding the police harassing you while you wait, avoiding the local punks from robbing you while you wait, avoiding the bus driver from being rude to you (or throwing you off) for being a rider, etc. Obviously, you don't have experience riding a bus in an American city like Kansas City.
lol
@@Nehmo Well said!
2:45. Touch the metal car frame as soon as you open the door and before you start getting out of the car. Just saved you 4min and 10 sec - you're welcome.
You must be very popular with kids
Even more popular with teenagers though (>_>)
And even more popular with creepy old men.
+sleazybtd Her videos also seem to attrect self righteous SWJs.
+sleazybtd Yeah not sure how creepy I am, but I seriously got it for smart chicks.
Why would they attract sjw's?
This used to happen to me after I bought my first car. I never happened with the other cars I drove, probably because those all had leather seats. I eventually learned the trick of holding the door as I got out, but before that my method was just grabbing the door hard enough that the pain from that would cover up the pain of the shock.
That PBS opening gives me a headache.
I'm seriously done with getting shocked everytime I get out of my car.
This has never happenned to me.
same I didn't even know it was possible
my mom's explorer and my 94 Accord both have leather seats so yeah same here (in surprised a cheap Honda from the 90's came with leather tbh
It only happens to "positive" people.
It happened to me everytime
Happens to me all day everyday
When I lived up in the north, during winter times, static electricity is just shockingly frequent.
Getting out of the car and ground myself became a habit i developed.
The other thing I found useful is to get a humidifier at home. By making the air humid, it helps discharge the static when you take off a sweater or get up from a plastic chair, etcs.
Never been so early on a video! Great video too :)
+doctorwhofan883 Thanks!
I got shocked four times today getting out of the car. Loved this video, thanks!
Leather seats. Problem solved.
Ciber X Gaming my seats are leather and I get shocked every time I get out of my car 😢
said like an arrogant rich guy who doesnt live in cold or hot areas (or never parks on the street).
I'm so glad I was able to watch this video.i am constantly getting shocked when I get out of the car.so I was determined to find a solution.so thank you,I know what to do now
- why are you rubbing yourself with that?
- cos wanna leave my car, men!
XD
I always touch the car's window pane first upon disembarking and then touch the metal body to close the door, and that has solved the shock problem for me. I do not know the physics behind it, but it works for me. The same on trains: glass first, metal second.
As a Floridian, this happens? xD
+iVulgarThrust What's funny is that I grew up in Hawaii, which is like Florida in car-shocking. So when I moved to dryer places, I got WAY more bothered by this than people who were used to it. Oh it happens. I hate it.
+Physics Girl Same here! Growing up in Texas I never recall getting shocked in winter, moved up north and now I loathe winter! I always keep a key or some other piece of metal in my hand to discharge my self.
I was like I guess this just doesn't happen to me. Then I read this comment and was like.. oh. that's why, cause I live in the South.
Thank you for the tips ! Holding the door whilst leaving the car works great ! Btw so nice to see a woman who doesn't need to flaunt herself to get views 🙏
She’s smart and hot . . .
We had thick carpets at college that shocked everyone but me. I glued a resister to a flat top metal ring... one wire to the ring, the other wire bent upward over
over the top of the resister. Then I simply touched the ring
This is one of the BEST youtube channels!!
This video is very informative. I looked for an answer w/ my experience last night. The room is so cold because of the AC, i put my blanket with me already then i start scratching my pants inside. When I was about to change my blanket to bigger one static starts, it's pretty amazing!!! It's light green like tiny lightning that buzzes all over the blanket! When I was about to through the blanket away (for i thought it's because of the blanket) I saw all of my finger tips having those tiny lightning in them!!! Love it!
Part of the shock comes from the distance of the drive too. Just like rubbing a balloon against hair or clothes, rubber tires rubbing the road will pick up some charge and can transfer it to the outside of the car which acts like a Faraday cage if not separately grounded. I've been told that semi-truck tires have metal flecks in the outer tire to help ground them so charge doesn't build up as much. Also, a lot of grocery stores now have carts with little changes dangling off of one wheel to help ground them.
Thanks a lot. Now I am happy that I don't need to get shock anymore following this simple technique.
rubbing a dryer sheet on the car seat does help. I just put my left calf against the car when getting out. Winter gloves insulate against electricity as well as the cold.
I work at a pizza place and most days I roll out the dough and put it in the pans so others can put the toppings on. However the rollers in the dough machine act just like a Van de Graaff generator so every time I take the dough from the machine to the pans I get a shock. This adds up to hundreds of shocks per day. Your video inspired me to try bringing in my anti-static wrist band to work, don't know why I didn't think of that earlier so thanks again for the inspiration.
We are much more likely to get shocked on a hot dry day. The humidity can drop below 5%. My wife's solution is to close the car using the glass leaving the charge on the car to get me when I try to lock the door. My solution is to put my leg out of the car keeping it in contact with the door sill. Any charge passes through the solid leg rather than through fingers, arms, torso heart etc. That way even if the spark happens I do not feel it. In more extreme events I use a wooden ruler. This conducts enough electricity to discharge a
van de graaf generator but slowly so no spark happens. It works fine for things that are large like trucks.
Awesome Dianna ! Thanks for the trick. I'm an engineer and I know equations of Maxwell but I have never solved my problems of shocks after car exiting with it. I just thought that I was a bad insulator. Science is so fun, I really like your channel, keep it up !
Awesome!!! Thanks a lot for this very practical explanation! I hated being shocked every time leaving the car! No shocks anymore when leaving the car!!!
I am inspired to as anyone showing off a Van de Graff Generator to put a series of insulators on it and seeing which ones can overcome the strong voltage and utterly blow our minds.
In winter I always touch that galvanised door lock loop, visible at 2:33, with my keys or fingers as I slide out of the car. Getting zapped by the metal shelving at the supermarket is always hazardous as I always forget to take care, you're thinking about groceries, not static. Don't need a coat or jumper where I live.
You can also just knock your knuckles against the outside of the car. Placing your knuckle quickly on the car (not slowly and cautiously) and the broader surface contact area of the knuckle both dissipate the discharge so you don't feel it or hear it as a spark. Also your knuckles are less sensitive than your palm or finger tips, further reducing any sensation.
great. Also put an eletroscope on the top and show how to "measure" the voltage. then you can show the photoelectric effect by shining ultraviolet light on the metal and show how the charge leaks off faster the without the UV- light.
Wonderful video, Dianna! I hope that you are getting plenty of static electricity shock-free hugs from your friends and family. 🙏🏻
I work at Jeep driving cars off the line. I get shocked every time so finally bought static dissipative shoes to avoid going crazy. I’m going to try this next winter to see if I can wear shoes I actually like again!
I've been doing this ever since I watched this video and it works every time.
You didn't mention the Faraday Cage! Both the Van De Graff generator and the car are Faraday cages. Any excess charge in a hollow conductor jumps to the surface, leaving the interior neutral. Thats what makes the VDG generator work.
When you get out of a car without touching it, the charge on your body is free to have a different charge than the car, which leads to a shock. Touching the car brings the two charges to equillibrium, preventing the shock.
As you leave the car, your body moves from inside to outside the Faraday cage. Your skin gradually becomes part of the exterior of the Faraday cage. In really dry weather, you can feel the charge move onto you as you get out.
Omg I am a professional driver so I get shocked over 50 times daily THANK YOU I WILL DEFINITELY TRY THIS CAUSE I'M SO FED UP GETTING SHOCKED THIS WAY DAILY