[HN Gopher] The enduring puzzle of static electricity
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       The enduring puzzle of static electricity
        
       Author : EvgeniyZh
       Score  : 102 points
       Date   : 2025-08-08 05:02 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pubs.aip.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pubs.aip.org)
        
       | Peteragain wrote:
       | No mention of lightening! The idea that the triboelectric series
       | is more guidelines than rules was interesting, but the metal-
       | insulator distinction seems a bit off. Is there a triboelectric
       | effect between two conductors? How? Why wouldn't the distribution
       | of electrons even out in a pair of conductors, or do they mean
       | non conducting metals? And I imagine someone has looked at
       | triboelectric effects between crystals of varying materials -
       | does anyone know?
        
         | gsf_emergency_2 wrote:
         | > _Based on our theory, the Seebeck coefficient is the
         | fundamental source of the mysteriousness of triboelectricity._
         | 
         | https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev...
         | 
         | Put 2 conductors with different Seebecks in contact and you get
         | a... thermocouple (at least?)
        
       | Simon_O_Rourke wrote:
       | > Two experiments using the same sets of materials may yield two
       | distinct orderings of the materials.
       | 
       | A quantum static effect?
        
         | MarkusQ wrote:
         | More likely unrecorded environmental factors (temperature,
         | humidity, etc.)
        
       | omnicognate wrote:
       | The wikipedia page on the triboelectric effect is particularly
       | good, and has a hilarious cat picture.
       | 
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | It looks like someone got carried away with the motion-capture
         | markers. ;)
        
       | tobr wrote:
       | Good opportunity to share this life hack: I used to end up with a
       | mess almost every time I used my coffee grinder, much like the
       | picture in the article. Eventually I learned that this only
       | happens with very dry beans. Adding a few tiny drops of water
       | before grinding is enough to get rid of it pretty much
       | completely. Since making coffee already involves water it's as
       | easy as dipping a finger and then running it through the beans.
        
         | Reubachi wrote:
         | Thanks for this tip!
         | 
         | I just tried, worked like a charm :)
        
         | hinoki wrote:
         | It actually helps the extraction from the coffee grounds too,
         | not just for reducing mess.
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/nLnB99VJ0HE
         | 
         | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259023852...
        
         | magicalhippo wrote:
         | Similarly dry air can be a literal component killer when
         | working with electronics. Sometimes a humidifier is needed to
         | ensure static build-up doesn't go too far.
        
           | InitialLastName wrote:
           | This is actually an interesting challenge for places that
           | work with electronics assembly at an industrial scale; they
           | have competing drives to keep humidity high for ESD
           | mitigation, but also deal with a lot of moisture-sensitive
           | components whose acceptable exposure to free air (after
           | baking, but before reflow) is measured in hours (and
           | substantially worse with higher humidity).
        
       | ddingus wrote:
       | A while back, I watched a YT video of someone making a large
       | electret. Reading this makes me really want to make one for
       | myself.
       | 
       | An electret is an item that presents a permanent static charge.
       | It is like a permanent magnet. Has an enduring charge polarity.
       | 
       | The only use of an electret I know of is the electret microphone.
       | And those use a very small electret.
       | 
       | In the video, the author made a large one. Hockey puck sized. He
       | used some type of nylon. (I think I remember it right...)
        
       | calmbonsai wrote:
       | See also, this wonderful Reactions static electricity video:
       | https://youtu.be/-Buz6Sp2YTg
        
       | kazinator wrote:
       | Remember, static RAM requires electric current, whereas dynamic
       | RAM uses static electricity.
        
         | Workaccount2 wrote:
         | You might want to double check that. I would assume you are
         | getting caught up on the gates of memory cells being capacitive
         | and holding a charge. But both memory types use FET technology,
         | and saying FETs use static electricity is sort of a stretch.
        
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       (page generated 2025-08-11 23:01 UTC)