Blue Sparks

Perhaps some of you who read my post a few weeks ago saw my mention of a large spark my dad created on our trip to Alaska. Well, here's more details.

If you have ever been somewhere dry, you know that static electricity is something to be feared. But on this trip to Alaska, we were staying in a hotel that required walking about twenty meters from our door to the elevator, all the way on carpet. One morning, my dad, being still a young boy at heart, decided to drag his feet along the carpet to see how much static/electrons he could accumulate. By dragging his feet, he accumulated extra electrons, giving himself a net negative charge, increasing with the amount of dragging. Having discovered that the panel on the side of the elevator was grounded, he slowly moved his hand towards the panel. However, he had accumulated so many electrons and potential energy that all of the excess electrons quickly left him for the grounded object, even before he touched it. The large discharge of potential energy, energy converted to kinetic energy for the quickly moving electrons, caused a visible spark coming from my dad's finger, quickly followed by an exclamation of "OUCH!" along with a slight jump. The electrons then probably were transfered to the ground, where they quickly spread out equalizing the charge, effectively canceling it out. Perhaps more electrons moved within the building back to the momentarily positively charged floor, so some electrons going to the ground ended up back in the building. But, like I said, the spark was a bluish color, and very bright. After that, my dad and I discovered that walking while rubbing our hands on the wooden handrail, as well as touching the elevator panel through our jackets, lessened the severity of the shock. I'm glad I don't have to do that on a regular basis. If we ever go back, I wonder if my dad will have learned his lesson, or if the young boy inside of him will prevail again? :-)

P.S. My mom was folding laundry once again (thank you, Mom!), when a sock which was held onto a shirt by static electricity from transfered electrons from the dryer came flying off when she shook it and landed right back in the pile without her noticing it. It was hilarious. :-)