Re: [Phys-l] Electrostatics and humidity

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

Could it be both?  dirt provides condensation nuclei and then 
electrolytic conductivity.   Try cleaning very well.  Then in an air 
cleaned w/ HEPA room, spray a mist (perfume type aspirator). 

bc, who many times set on bench next to demos a refrigeration type 
dehumidifier, absolutely necessary at SBCC (a hundred yds. from the 
beach. --salty air!)

Brian Whatcott wrote:

> Surface asperities promote charge loss via high field emission. This could possibly be 
>  associated with the suggestion that cleanliness = low loss.
>   
>  Brian Whatcott    Wichita
>
> "Kilmer, Skip" <kilmers@greenhill.org> wrote:
>  Just starting electrostatics, my class came across the "textbook" (Giancoli) explanation that when the humidity is high, polar water molecules transport electrons to or from charged objects, discharging them. I remember learning sometime in my 33 years of teaching that you can prevent this discharge by cleaning the objects before charging them, implying that salts on their surfaces become conductors by absorbing (adsorbing?) water from the air on a humid day. Has anyone actually studied this phenomenon or know of any good references? My own experience is that the cleanliness matters more than the humidity.
> Skip
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