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ESD problem?

Most of the times when I touch a metal saface I feel like I have touch an electric wire, mostly happen when clossing the car do or opening the gate, I sometimes see some sparks

I would like to find out why i feel this way, and is there anything i can do?

1 Answer

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    It's because your body and the object you're touching have a significant difference in charge. It's no different than how a battery works - a lot of electrons stored in one place will naturally flow to an area with few electrons given the chance. Normally, this should not be a problem between our bodies and various other objects because the moisture in the air brings everything to more or less the same charge at a very gradual pace. In dry areas this can't happen and we equalize our charge with the objects we touch (you can do this if you quickly charge yourself even in a moist climate - rubbing your socks on a carpet and quickly touching a doorknob can shock you when it's raining outside, it's just a lot rarer).

    There's not much you can do about it except to wait for the wet season to start. If you don't live in an area with a wet season, there's pretty much nothing you can do.

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