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 Forum index » Meta » Various & Sundry
Static-Electricity Rulez! [totally various & sundry]
Moderators: Giskard, imbri, ndemeter
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Dorkmaster
Unfictologist


Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 1328
Location: The People's Republic of Dork

 		Static-Electricity Rulez! [totally various & sundry]
There is absolutely no point to this, other than it's so amazing that it's true, that I had to share it with y'all: (Taken from Reuter's "Oddly Enough")

Quote:
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.

Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.

When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.

"It sounded almost like a firecracker," Clewer told Australian radio Friday.

"Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt."

Employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building.

"There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton.

Firefighters cut electricity to the building thinking the burns might have been caused by a power surge.

Clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters.

"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said.

"I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said.

Firefighters took possession of Clewer's jacket and stored it in the courtyard of the fire station, where it continued to give off a strong electrical current.

David Gosden, a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at Sydney University, told Reuters that for a static electricity charge to ignite a carpet, conditions had to be perfect.

"Static electricity is a similar mechanism to lightning, where you have clouds rubbing together and then a spark generated by very dry air above them," said Gosden.


And yes... it's true. How cool is that? It's like... well, it's not like anything else ever! That's just awesome, funny, and awesome. Smile
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 3:41 pm
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oliverkeers13
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Joined: 23 May 2005
Posts: 917
Location: London, UK

 		that's reason No. 731 to not wear nylon!
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 3:49 pm
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Phaedra
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Joined: 21 Sep 2004
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Location: Here, obviously

 		Wow, thanks, Dorkmaster! Very Happy
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:38 pm
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

 		Spontaneous Combustion
So that's how Blipverts cause that.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:23 am
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