Greetings everyone! I just got back from a day of making
competition boomerangs with some friends. One of them is in the Coast
Guard and he was talking about some of his training/excercises using the
helicopters. Apparently, whenever the helicopter sends down a line, like
a back-board, the people in the boat must periodically discharge the
back-board basket using a "dead-man stick". I can understand why the
blades create a static charge, but how is the static charge being
transferred to the basket or cable? Is it through conduction or is the
static charge being passed through the air? Also, would it be possible
to demonstrate this phenomenon in the classroom by twirling around some
material and having it conducted through the person who is twirling it?
I reckon that it would be best to do such a thing in the winter time
while the air is dry (especially here in Ohio).
He also mentioned that NASA Lewis had some material which was
very similar to this. If this material was spun around, it had a
phosphorence(sp?) material so that as it built up a charge, it started
glowing. He had also seen a material which was almost the same, but it
was hooked up to some wires and created enough charge to light a LED
bulb.
If anyone has seen or heard of this material, I'd appreciate it
if you let me know. Also, if you do know of this material, is it
possible to get some of this material or make it using some "common"
material.