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Re: [Phys-l] Electrostatics and humidity



I really did a double-take when I first read the e-mail below.
I couldn't believe it .... that is .... until I realized that
the bulb must already be in a lamp socket which is
connected to a 120 V outlet wall outlet.

Was I the only one???

Herb


On Thu, 8 Feb 2007 10:27:36 -0500 "Spagna Jr., George" <gspagna@rmc.edu>
writes:
Again, this is anecdotal rather than theory:

A low-wattage incandescent lamp placed under the Van de Graaf
generator overnight is one of the tricks I learned in a much earlier
life > as lecture demonstration support. Placing smaller electrostatics
demo
items overnight in a ventilated box with an incandescent lamp got
them dry enough to work in virtually any humidity.

In a pinch, I dismantle the Van de Graaf and wipe it down with
ethanol to dry surfaces - particularly the column and the belt.

**********************************************
"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into
theorems." -- Paul Erdos
**********************************************

Dr. George Spagna
Chair, Physics Department
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505

phone: (804) 752-7344
fax: (804) 752-4724
e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu
http://faculty.rmc.edu/gspagna


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Herb Gottlieb from New York City
Where we live in peace and harmony