Static electricity
Posted by: Toffe on: Monday, December 18, 2006
(I thought about naming this post ‘Electricity in bed’)
I had a fever yesterday, and had an extra blanket on me when i slept to “help the fever” without draining my body of energy. Anyway, during the night, i was of course hot, I went up and had a glass of water. Then i decided that i did not need the extra blanket anymore, so i removed it.
When i removed the blanket there were sparks of static electricity and because it wast pitch black in the middle of the night they were really visible.
Big spots, from 5 to 10 cm^2, shone yellow on the surface of the felt blanket.
It made the same sound that you sometimes hear when you remove a woollen jumper.
10 Responses to "Static electricity"
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 20:12
This is probably a “hot” topic, because i was asked to moderate this comment 
The phenomena with the blanket was not “jumping sparks” but more like the surface was glowing. Perhaps the sparks just juped between the fur. But then the the glow was yellow, and in my experience static electricity is bluish.
Hmm. But… sparks in the air are blue, because tha atoms in the air are exited. perhats it was actually the fur atoms that started to glow. hence the yellowness. I have to take some photos. It was a syntetic furish feltlike blanket.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 21:12
And the phenomena occourred when i removed the blanket from the bed. It was twirled and tumbeled, and when i removed it it got stretched out and during the stretching the glowing started.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 16:18
Hällou!
Intressant fenomen du beskrev! Vardagen är fylld med
spänning, eller hur? Jag tänkte bara fråga om jag kan sätta dig på min blogg som en bloggare? Gud jul önskar jag dig!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 20:41
Hej Eva. Välkommen. Visst får du länka hit.
om det är ok så sätter jag en länk till din blog härifrån också.
Monday, August 25, 2008 at 4:18
I was surprised i even got a result for my search on static electricity in blankets i had never seen such a thing until last night when i expierenced the phenomenon for myself, i had just put new sheets and doonas and my new cotton micofibre quilt on the bed i did not put a doona cover over it because i had an old doona on top because our new puppie was sleeping on the bed, any way about half an hour after going to bed i got up and saw a flash of white light i figured it was a reflection from the window and thought nothing more of it until i got back in and the flashes would be there every time i touched or rubbed the blanket. I was quite puzzled and also very concerened this could start a fire i ended up sleeping on the lounge. So i was very relieved it would be extremely rare for it to start a fire. Lets renew energy the blanket way. Erin
Monday, August 25, 2008 at 7:09
At least according to http://www.iapa.ca/pdf/2004_feb_Static%20Electricity.pdf,
four conditions must be met in order for static electricity to be hazardous
1. There must be a means for a static charge to
develop.
2. Enough energy must build up to cause ignition.
3. There must be a discharge of this energy (a
spark).
4. The spark must occur in an ignitable vapour or
dust mixture.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 18:09
Terrific article. hope to definitely visit again=)
Friday, June 5, 2009 at 3:29
I honestly thought I was the only one who experienced this! But I was in my bed in the pitch black when this happened to me as well!
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 13:58
Interesting! I’ve seen some tiny sparks a few times, but never anything like that. Don’t get that blanket near any RAM-modules! Maybe you could rub it up deliberately and take a photograph.
I found some appropriate illustrations:
http://www.resonanceresearch.com/bridge-fire-electrostatic-hands-on-display.htm
http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/van-de-graaff/index1.html#6
I had an exciting experience with static electricity myself last summer. My cousins have got a really big trampoline(!) in their back yard in Jakobstad. I was watering their flowers while they went to France, and so Anna and I had an chance to play with the trampoline. (I wonder what the neighbours thought.. Two 20-something-year-old strangers jumping around on their neighbours yard and laughing hysterically.) But I had no idea it had such an impressing side effect of building up static electricity! It’s probably because there is a plastic sleeve surrounding the edges, which is constantly rubbing against the flexing mat while you jump. It’s all non-conducting materials. And that leaves you charged too. But the charge did obviously NOT distribute evenly among the jumpers. Sparks really flew when we touched!
(There was an attracting force.)