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When you unplug a high-power electrical applicance like a
halogen lamp or a space heater, you reliably get a big blue
spark between the plug and the light socket.
When you plug it
back in, it seems like you sometimes -- but not always -- get
another spark.
I was interpreting this as the release of some of the energy stored
in the magnetic field in the space around the coil of the
step-down transformer where the power line feeds into my
house.
The other interpretation is that you simply create a strong
electric field in the air when the plug is close to, but not
quite touching, the socket.
On a related note, does anyone know how strong a field is
required to ionize air, and how strongly this depends on
humidity?