Static electricity in the body, anyone know anything?

smelltheglove

A few weeks ago I kissed my 7 yr old daughter, she got a shock that caused her to cry. I thought nothing. Within days my younder 3 yr old daughter was playing next to me, I reached my hand out for something and her cheek touched off my knuckle. I gave her a shock that took about 30mns to calm her down from. For over a week she had a nasty bruise on teh spot of the shock.

Just now I have given my eldest daughter a shock yet again, now this time I have been working and the laptop is on my lap, she was handing me the iphone and our fingers tipped. I doubt very much I had the laptop in the most serious case, its battery is dead and I know the charger does not reach to where I was sitting. Has anyone any idea why this is happening? I have been googling and I keep coming up with various tips on shoes and clothing, thing is, I am in my pjs with no shoes, so obviously its not static stored in shoes so it must be static in my body.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know, I hate the thought of hurting the kids just by touching them.

locum-motion

It could be that the static had built up in the kids' clothes/shoes and was discharged through you, not vice versa. AFAIK the human body doesn't generate static electricity itself but can become charged with static electricity, particularly if the body is insulated from the ground by shoes or furniture.

smelltheglove

I know each of the times it happened I was sitting on the couch. My kids dont like wearing their shoes in the house and I know todays incident the little one didnt have hers on, just leggings and a tshirt. Maybe its something got to do witht he couch. I know I have always been prone to static shocks but I have never actually hurt anyone with one before, this bruise my daughter had was terrible.

Is it possible it could be the couch?

Huawei Gallagher

Its normally a cheap carpet, just walk along it dragging your feet for a while to build up a charge,wearing whatever shoes you had on at the time, or get the kids to do the same as it may be them that hold the charge. then hold your finger very close to a radiator pipe and see if you can spark.Maybe something spinning like a fan in the laptop is charging the outer case with static. Also make sure you dont touch any internal parts, contacts etc. of your laptop or PC or memory stick etc.or you can destroy them with the static.Other explanation is that you are a god, see below!:)

smelltheglove

Haha, brilliant...

I just hate the thought of hurting them. We have laminate floors no carpet. Each of the times the kids were standing and I was sitting so maybe the floor or the fabric on the couch. It is very strange though and I just couldnt get over the damage it did to the youngest kids face.

Trust me though lads, if I was a God I'd be sunning myself somewhere rather than freaking out about this:D

martyboy48

It could be possible that the couch could hold a charge i guess, would depend on a lot of things ie activity on the couch, type of legs... ect..
Static charge is built up in the body through movement/friction ect.. Humidity and footware can determine how much/often it happens...
The fact that your kids don't wear footwear in the house leads me to think that they would be more likely to feel shock as it is an easy path to ground as no footware to insulate them.
One important thing, when you are on the couch, do you have your legs up on like a recliner?? If yes, then your activity would just build up a charge and then pass to child. wolly clothing/jersey type material builds up a lot of charge as well...
the above may not be 100% accurate but generally good info

smelltheglove

Thanks, well for todays incident I had been working on the laptop for around 5/6 hours apart from a break for a bath, so would have been moving around a lot, side to side, feet up, feet down, just constantly re adjusting myself and wearing pjs and night coat.

bleg

locum-motion wrote: »

It could be that the static had built up in the kids' clothes/shoes and was discharged through you, not vice versa. AFAIK the human body doesn't generate static electricity itself but can become charged with static electricity, particularly if the body is insulated from the ground by shoes or furniture.

this

littlebug

I've made my child cry with static shocks as well:o I have days when I'm getting so many of them I'm afraid to touch anything! if I remember I try to do things like touch the wood of the door before I touch the handle. I get them a lot when I'm getting out of the car too.
I also get a lot of little shocks of parts my laptop :eek: which is rather worrying and could be a different thing altogether.

smelltheglove

I suppose it could be the laptop too littlebug, thanks, I work on it for hours on end during the day so I suppose if I get a build up it could transfer to the kids. I dont understand it that much really.

hellbent

smelltheglove wrote: »

I suppose it could be the laptop too littlebug, thanks, I work on it for hours on end during the day so I suppose if I get a build up it could transfer to the kids. I dont understand it that much really.

I think if you pass on a charge through physical contact, your child will only receive an immediate shock if he/she forms a low resistance path to earth. If he/she is insulated, no shock will occur right then. But if they then touch an earthy object, the charge will discharge through the point of contact, resulting in a shock.
Many years ago, it was common for telephone operators to get frequent static shocks, when the - at that time- new nylon underwear was becoming popular. Static built up in it from the ladies movements on their seat, and once they handled the earthed plug of a connection cord, they got a shock and angrily blamed the switchboard! When wearing cotton, there was seldom a problem.:)

Solair

It's most likely an interaction between your shoes/socks and the floor surface.
It could also be the upholstery on a particular chair or sofa or even your own clothes.

Try wearing natural fibres i.e. cotton / linen and avoid synthetic fibres like polyester etc

Try walking barefoot or using socks that are made from cotton or something natural.

If you are concerned about shocking other people, you should earth/ground yourself by touching an earthed/grounded metal object.

E.g. touch an unpainted copper pipe, the taps on your sink or a plugged-in appliance which has unpainted metal/chrome parts e.g. a kettle or toaster. (Just the external case of the appliance, obviously do not touch any live electrical components or you will get a very different type of shock !!)

You will feel a shock, but it's actually the electricity jumping from you to ground, not from the appliance to you.

Also be VERY careful about touching any USB connectors or other data/communication/RF ports on computers, satellite/cable boxes, tvs etc you could send a high voltage static discharge into the equipment causing serious damage.

So, earth yourself before you handle anything sensitive!