Static Electricity: Classic or Dud?

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It's cold, dry, and windy in the Washington area right now. Ordinarily this is my favorite sort of weather. But there seems to be a bumper crop of static electricity right now -- I got a shock on my little finger this afternoon that still tingles a little. What recent experiences have you had with sudden shocks?

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 03:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I get one every day, from the car door. Then I give them to other people.

― rainy (rainy), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a polyester nightie as a girl which used to glow in the darks cos it picked up so much static.

― leigh (leigh), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 11:17 (twenty-two years ago)

My mum got an awful lot of static shocks when she was in hospital for an operation; but the strange thing was that she kept getting lots of them when she was back home. It was as if they'd done something which had permanantly electrified her body.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 11:21 (twenty-two years ago)

or made her into an attention-seeking LIAR.

haha, only kidding.

yeah, I get these from the car door all the time. trick is: put yer feet on the ground and touch the door BEFORE you leave yer seat. I still get them all the time since I forget to apply the trick.

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 11:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheap nylon carpets + wall partitions in metal frames = me getting a shock every time I go through an internal doorway here. Still a novelty, but it could start to get old.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 11:39 (twenty-two years ago)

B-b-but!
http://www.onlineathens.com/images/021102/hair_raising.jpg
http://www.uwplatt.edu/~sps/pharout/7hazel_green_3_2_2000.jpg
http://physics.indiana.edu/~dept/AlumniNews/w98/openhouse.html

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

There used to be a band called Van Der Graaf Generator (back in the days when Our Price had chunky plastic divides with each band name in a Letrasetesque typeface). Often wondered what they sounded like.

Static electricity only good for the balloon-against-jumper-stick-on-ceiling/wall routine which grates after a while. Oh and on a school visit to the Science Museum we found that if we rubbed our feet on the floor repeatedly we could get quite dramatic shocks from the metal rims of the glass cabinets which have presumably disppeared now museums have gone all hands-on and all.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:14 (twenty-two years ago)

VDGG = Mr Phay's all time favouritist band of all time

― RickyT (RickyT), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha! We did that experiment a couple of times at school.

I get a shock every time I touch the handrail on an escalator, the car door or my sister.

― Madchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Does your sister charge herself up specially?

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Problem with the VDG Generator is all the kids that keep trying to get sparks off yer arse when you are doing it. It can be very very painful.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Madchen: your sister has a handrail?

Last time I visited the Science Museum, I found that once you get away from all the modern hands-on stuff near the entrance it's easy to find bits that don't look like they've been changed since the museum altered.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Do they still do the big electric bang every hour?

― Madchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

She's your sister, you should know.

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

When you kiss someone and give them a shock and you jump back and look daggers at each other and then collapse in giggles and kiss again....

CLASSIC.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Workplace in winter turns into static electricity central for some reason. Still haven't received my first shock yet, though!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

"There used to be a band called Van Der Graaf Generator (back in the days when Our Price had chunky plastic divides with each band name in a Letrasetesque typeface). Often wondered what they sounded like."

Ans: Shit. Times 6.

― lol p xx, Wednesday, 4 December 2002 17:14 (twenty-two years ago)

static electricity = great for sticking balloons on the wall (rub vigorously on jumper first, obv)

― C J (C J), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Here's a question I thought of as I was doing my laundry over the weekend:

What did people used to think static electricity was in the "olden days? Like in the Medieval Age and whatnot. I bet they thought it was the devil or something.

― Aaron W, Wednesday, 4 December 2002 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, what were Medieval Van Der Graaf generators called, before Peter Hammill came along?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 4 December 2002 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

the other day I put on a shirt out of the dryer and it felt like I was in tron

― Josh (Josh), Thursday, 5 December 2002 07:02 (twenty-two years ago)

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