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Re: PHYS-L Digest - 18 Apr 2000 to 19 Apr 2000 (#2000-138)



If there is no such triboelectric series, perhaps, there could be one
based on the combination of pairs of materials. The entries in the
series would be arranged according to a single numerical value
analogous to friction coefficients which also depend on the
combination of materials in contact.

Glenn A. Carlson, P.E.
gcarlson@mail.win.org

Subject: Re: contact electrification
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 19:51:42 -0400
From: "John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>

[snip]
2) It has been known for about 200 years that, strictly speaking,
there is
no such thing as a triboelectric series. Depending on the chemical
and
physical state of the surfaces, I can create objects A, B, and C
that obey
the nontransitive relationships
x(A,B) > 0
x(B,C) > 0
x(C,A) > 0
where x(,) designates the charge of the first object when
contact-electrified against the second. It is even possible to have
two
objects D and E such that
x(D,E) > 0 if you rub gently, while
x(D,E) < 0 if you rub harder.