National Static Electricity Day
JANUARY 09, 2023 – If you feel a special, hair-raising electricity in the air today, well that’s no wonder — it’s National Static Electricity Day.
National Static Electricity Day is every year on January 9. This day is about the interesting, and sometimes serious, electric charge phenomenon and learning why and how it happens. Humans are no strangers to static electricity since we can see, feel, and often hear it.
Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges in an object. Charges build up on the surface until they are discharged. Many of us that live in dry winter climates experience this by getting shocked when we touch doorknobs.
Fun facts about static electricity:
- Static electricity builds up faster on a dry day. High humidity helps to dissipate static charge.
- Static electricity is generally harmless to humans. A spark of static electricity can measure thousands of volts but has very little energy and only lasts for a short period of time.
- In clothing, static cling occurs from static electricity. A charge builds up on clothes due to the triboelectric effect when pieces of fabric rub against each other in a clothes dryer. The separate positive and negatively charged surfaces attract each other.
- Static hair occurs when your hair builds up an electric charge and makes the strands of your hair repel each other, leaving your hair frizzy and difficult to style.
Static electricity is a big issue for many industries. Damage to electronic parts caused by static electricity has cost the industry billions of dollars. A static discharge can cause a fire or explosion if there are flammable gases, chemicals, or powders.
At Electro-Tech Systems, Inc. (ETS), we help customers understand the static related performance of their materials, devices, or work environments. If static discharge is a problem for your business, then contact our ETS ESD experts who can assist you with lab testing, consulting, or test equipment.
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