Everyone's had the experience of walking on carpeting, touching something, and getting a nasty shock. Thankfully, fewer of us have had the experience of getting a shock while fueling an automobile, and having that spark ignite an explosion! Both those scenarios, however have the same source-the electrostatic energy that lives on textiles. Static electricity can be found everywhere in our daily lives. It's as common as pulling a blanket off a bed, says Mark Horenstein, professor at Boston University and an expert on electrostatic energy. The tiny sparks you see flying off the blanket are "just like lightning, but on a small scale," he says.
展开▼
