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Spontaneous Combustion Explained: Don't Wear Wool Shirts With Nylon Jackets
from the just-saying... dept
Really not quite sure what to make of this story, which seems to have all the elements normally associated with an urban legend. GMSV points us to a Reuters piece describing a man in Australia who made the fashion faux pas of the century. He didn't just clash... he clashed electrically speaking. According to the story, the combination of his wool shirt and synthetic nylon jacket worked up enough static electricity to scorch the world behind him, even setting his office carpet on fire. The guy didn't realize it was his fault until after the firemen evacuated the building in search of the cause of the carpet fire, he noticed that stuff in his car was scorched as well. The firefighters claim that the combination of the shirt and jacket were tested, showing a current of 40,000 volts, "one step shy of spontaneous combustion." Now, if only he could learn to use those powers for good, instead of evil...
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current
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Re: current
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No Subject Given
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Fashion Nerd vs. Tech Nerd
If you can get 40kv from rubbing wool and polyester together, why do you need a backpack?
MjM
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No Subject Given
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Static electricity
check this link out for all the yummy details
http://amasci.com/emotor/voltmeas.html
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come on now
let's go back to being above-board and relevant here...
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Re: Static electricity
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It's all about the current.
You know that big bright arc you get when welding? There's only about 10V between the work and the electrode, but typically 50 to 150Amps of current.
When you walk over carpet on a hot, dry day you'll regularly build up 40KV of static charge. Touch a doorknob and it hurts, but nothing is likely to catch fire.
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Re: It's all about the current.
link
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Re: It's all about the current.
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translation service
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