Shock touching something is an experience common, almost on the agenda. Behind this annoying phenomenon there is a physical principle known as tip effect. It is a typical behavior of the bodies that can be loaded electrically – as well as the human body – and that, coming into contact with other objects or people, suddenly unloading the accumulated electricity, generating the well -known shock. Let’s see how it works.
Because we take the shock
During the day people, without realizing it, perform actions that can lead them to charge electrically. Walk on a rugparade a Sweater Synthetic, staying for a long time on a plastic chair are all situations that can cause a transfer of electric charges (electrons) and therefore an accumulation of electricity on the human body.
Since the human body it’s a good conductor, The charge tends to distribute itself on its surface. If we areolated from the ground, that is, we wear shoes that prevent us from downloading to the ground, we remain loaded. In this way the body behaves as a temporary charge container, which remains such until it comes into contact with another conductor.
And it is precisely here that the so -called comes into play tip effect. This phenomenon describes the fact that, although the charge is distributed over the entire surface of the body, it tends to concentrate more in the areas where the curvature radius It is smaller (ie where the surface is more “pointed”, where it has a “narrow” curve). The fingers, For example, they have a more accentuated curvature than other parts of the body, and for this reason They accumulate more charge.
For this reason when a person electrically charged a common object, like a metal handle, the discharge takes place right from the fingers, generating the typical shock. The focus effect, in physics, is explained in terms of electric fields, electrical potential and surface charge density.
