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Answers to Readers' Questions on Physical Science:

Controlling Static Electricity

The following 3 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.

List of first 10 items

• Shocks when getting out of car
• Preventing Xbox from overheating
• Amusement slide gives shocks

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Shocks when getting out of car

Question

March 16, 2010

Sir/Ms,
I have static electricity problem in my body ,which is not so severe ,but may turn severe as the time passes .whenever I open the car door ,I touch the metal part of the door & I get minor electric shock.when I feel hot during walking ,execising ,&working I start to feel some sparks coming out of my body just for a moment and in few seconds they vanish .I feel uncomfortable. Kindly advise what to do ? .
I am Ms Jassal ,69 yrs age ,living in northern part of India.otherwise I am healthy & very active .

Balwant - India

19379

Answer

The problem when you slide out of a car can be caused by your clothes rubbing on the seat of the car, causing the static electricity. Try putting a wool blanket on the car seat to prevent the charges. Also touch the metal part of the car with a metal key or ring, so as to prevent you from getting a shock.

If you get shocks when exercising, make sure you are not wearing polyester clothes. When they rub on the skin, they cause static electricity. Instead, try wearing cotton clothes.

I hope these ideas help.

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Preventing Xbox from overheating

Question

January 28, 2010

Will copper cause static electricity. The reason, I ask is because I copper plate for a living. I know xbox 360s overheat easily and I want to start copper plating specific things inside xbox 360s to absorb the heat away from the electronics and components. I was told that copper will cause static electricity and we all know this would ruin 360s if this was the case. So I need to know from the experts if this is a safe thing to do or not. If it is bad then if I was to put nickel or nickel and chrome on these parts would they stop causing it to have static or will it still be there if this is the case.

Thanks for your help and look forward to you emailing me back with an answer.

Jake - USA

19124

Answer

Copper can collect static charges when it is rubbed against certain materials.
See: http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_materials.htm

Although it will not cause static electricity by itself, the process of copper plating could easily zap some of the electronics. In fact, copper plating really would not help absorb heat from components. What you want is a heat sink, which would be a solid piece of metal that can absorb the heat or simply use a small computer fan to cool the components.

There are a number of sites that tell how to prevent the Xbox from overheating. Here are a few:

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-prevent-an-xbox-360-from-overheating-234732/

http://www.dtheatre.com/read.php?sid=5199

Best wishes in solving your problem.

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Amusement slide gives shocks

Question

December 24, 2004

I work at an attraction in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, called Wizard Quest. Inside our attraction we have several enclosed swirly playground slides. One of the biggest complaints we get concerns the massive shocks people get when sliding down these slides. I've been trying to come up with a solution for this, searching the Web for answers, but there don't seem to be any. I came across your article dealing with the control of static electricity, and although there is nothing in it regarding playground slides, I thought I might ask if you knew of any solutions, such as coating materials, grounding, etc. Anything you can suggest would be helpful. Thank you.

Bart - USA

5408

Answer

Skin or polyester clothes rubbing against the slide material can build up quite a charge. Typically, the shock comes from touching something metal, although people can get a shock touching another person. Covering metal parts near the end of the slide could help. Touching nonmetal grounded materials could also draw off some of the charges. A last resort would be to have people touch a metal pole with a coin or key to draw off the charges. But it is tough to ask people to do things in an amusement situation.

I hope these ideas help.

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