1. Discharging Electrically Charged Objects

2. Discharging…
Many everyday activities that we take for granted can generate electrical charge:
Gas pumping through a hose
An airplane flying
In either example, a static charge could be very dangerous. If it was allowed to build up, it could ignite the gas or interfere with the plane’s computer system
When an excess charge is removed, it is said to have been discharged or neutralized

3. Grounding
The easiest way to discharge an object is to connect it to the Earth with a conductor
When this happens, the object is said to be grounded – it shares its charge with the Earth
Examples:
Gas pumps & hoses
Assembly line workers who put together computers, appliances and so on
Astronauts are ‘grounded’ to their spaceship

4. Grounding Via Lightning Rods

5. Discharge at a Point
Grounding won’t always work – imagine trying to ground an airplane!
Airplanes make use of how charges behave on the surface of conductors
The shape of a conductor will affect how quickly it will discharge
Rounded objects hold charge better because they spread it out more evenly

6. Discharge at a Point
Pointed conductors lose charges at the end of the point as the repelling force between the electrons pushes electrons off the conductor – Discharge at a Point

7. Static Wicks
Airplanes use conductors that come to a point at one end (called Static Wicks) to discharge the plane in flight

8. Discharging in Other Ways
Humidity – water molecules in humid air (like a muggy summer day) draw the static charge out
Light – light particles (photons) knock electrons off of the object
Radioactivity – radioactive emission neutralizes electrons