I am sure this has happened to most people in the North: during a cold snap, when the air is extremely cold and dry, you are at home, and you walk across the carpet in your stocking feet. You want to turn on a few lights because it gets dark early.
As you approach the switch, you stick your finger out and suddenly there is a major snap, crackle and pop as a mini-lightning bolt arcs out from the switch to your finger. You have been zapped. You feel a tingle going up your arm as it goes numb, and you might get a whiff of ozone in the air, along with the smell of singed hair.
Now, it is true that not many people suffer permanent damage from this shocking event, except psychological, but they develop a fear of being electrocuted. A few do, however, suffer collateral damage as they scream in terror and try to leap backwards.
Your household electricity runs at 120 volts, but a static electricity charge could be as much as 4000 volts. Apparently, it’s not a lethal strike because of its current and amperage, but it can hurt and give you quite a scare. The other day I was puttering, and I bet I got zapped more than a dozen times. Every time I got near something metal, or a light switch, another dang zap. I felt like I should be carrying a lithium battery with me to charge it up.
I can remember kids in stocking feet, rubbing them on the carpet to built up a charge to see who could make the biggest spark, then trying to electrocute themselves, or others, just for the fun of it. It was a bit of a game and a form of experimental learning.
When I was in high school, they taught us a little bit about electricity in science class. I remember our slightly demented teacher took a glass rod and gave it a good rubbing with a piece of magical and mystical cat fur. I did have some qualms about them using cat’s fur — I mean, where does one buy a cat’s fur and what did the cats think about this? I like cats and I found the whole thing a little disconcerting.
The teacher was a bit of a showman, and he had a reputation for grandstanding and tormenting or embarrassing students. With a smile of glee, he waved the glass around and dared the front row students to touch it to illustrate that he had indeed created a static charge. He must have waved it a little too close to one of the girls’ noses because a mini bolt of electricity jumped between the rod and her nose. She screamed and in jerking backwards fell off her stool.
In the process, she must have grazed her head on something because some blood was involved. Someone in the back of the class said rather loudly, “He killed her”.
A degree of chaos and bedlam took over the class. Two students were assigned to take the girl to the school nurse, who happened to be in that day. The principal came rushing down and tried to restore some semblance of order, while the teacher went to the staff room for a smoke to calm his nerves. The event was certainly more educational than most lectures.
We were told that static electricity is basically harmless but a typical lightening flash in a thunderstorm is around 300 million volts and 30,000 amps. That is enough to kill you if you happen to get hit by one.
My question is why hasn’t someone invented some sort of machine to harvest all the electricity that is all around us in the air and in the ground? It could be the dawning of a whole new green energy source, one that doesn’t involve diesel engines, windmills, or hydro dams. I still have the same question all these years later as I get zapped while puttering around the house in winter. Maybe someone will eventually work on it.
Maybe Yellowknife should be declared the static electricity capital of North America. It sure feels like it some days. Where is Nikola Tesla when we need him?