Section 9.

7
Discharging Electrically
Charged Objects

Discharging
Many everyday activities that we take for
granted can generate electrical charge:
Gas pumping through a hose
An airplane flying

In either example, a static charge could be

very dangerous. If it was allowed to build
up, it could ignite the gas or interfere with
the planes computer system
When an excess charge is removed, it is
said to have been discharged or
neutralized

Grounding
The easiest way to discharge an object is
to connect it to the Earth with a conductor
When this happens, the object is said to
be grounded it shares its charge with the
Earth
Examples:
Gas pumps & hoses
Assembly line workers who put together
computers, appliances and so on
Astronauts are grounded to their spaceship

Discharge at a Point
Grounding wont always work imagine
trying to ground an airplane!
Airplanes make use of how charges
behave on the surface of conductors
The shape of a conductor will affect how
quickly it will discharge
Rounded objects hold charge better because
they spread it out more evenly

Discharge at a Point
Pointed conductors lose charges at the
end of the point as the repelling force
between the electrons pushes electrons
off the conductor Discharge at a Point

Static Wicks
Airplanes use conductors that come to a
point at one end (called Static Wicks) to
discharge the plane in flight

Discharging in Other Ways

1. Humidity water molecules in humid air
(like a muggy summer day) draw the
static charge out
2. Light light particles (photons) knock
electrons off of the object
3. Radioactivity radioactive emission
neutralizes electrons