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....
... rubbing your feet along a carpet will cause an excess of
electrons to accumulate on your body, to concentrate on thin objects like
your fingers, and when you reach for a metal door knob the mutual repulsion
between the electrons causes some of them to jump across the gap forming the
spark.
In one of those obvious questions no one has asked me before until today,
a student wanted to know why the door knob was necessary. Why don't the
electrons just leave your finger due to their repulsion whether or not the
doorknob is nearby.
What if your walking along the carpet created an electron deficit of the
same magnitude on your finger. Your finger would then attract electrons from
the door knob but it would seem that there wouldn't be any additional
inductive effect and therefore it is less likely that a spark would jump. Is
this also the case.
Thanks for any input.
Ed Schweber