The Strength of Static Electricity

Purpose: Since the discovery of it's existance by Benjamin Franklin, static electricity has long intrigued the world of physics. This week, Scientific AmeriKen will explore the strength of static electricity to see whether it has the strength to kill.

Hypothesis: Because the duration of the shock is very short, it is the hypothesis of this experiment that ordinary static electricity cannot kill.

Equipment: One lyndon jar and induction charging kit, one bug, aluminum foil, rubber gloves or some other non-conducting material to protect hands, pen and paper.

Procedure: The first step is to charge the lyndon jar by electric induction to about 100 or so cycles. While using the rubber gloves, attached a piece of aluminum foil to the bug, leaving two seperate ends. Attach one end of the aluminum foil to the bottom of the lyndon jar and then touch the other end of the foil to the top of the lyndon jar. Observe any results.

Observations:
Insect used was a garden snail

Status of the Bug

Snail was alive. Initial responses in the snail were slow, however, after some time, the snail moved at a normal slow pace. There was no obvious physical damage to the snail, except for excess bubbling, which had resulted due to some chemicals on the glove.

Conclusions: It was apparant that the hypothesis was proven true, and the snail was not killed as a result to exposer to static electricity. Though 100 cycles of stored energy is a very sizeable amount (experimentally shown to light a florescent tube fora short while), it is questionable as to whether or not cranking up the juice would create enough power to kill something. Though further research with higher voltages and ants is unlikely, it should be noted that static electricity is relatively safe.

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