How Many Volts?!

Just about everyone has experienced the shock from touching a doorknob or other conductor of electricity after walking across carpet…this is known as electrostatic discharge (ESD). What you may not know is that the human body doesn’t even feel these shocks until they are in excess of 500 volts! Don’t worry, you’re in no danger (even if, as in some measured cases, the voltage level is higher than 20,000!!) because the current of the discharge is so low it isn’t strong enough to injure or kill. But electronic components are extremely susceptible to ESD, especially computer chips [like RAM, for instance]. ESD can float grounds, flip memory circuits or cause electronic switches to malfunction. Even if a chip is damaged but not completely decommissioned by ESD, intermittent failures or erratic behavior may become worse in time until the component completely fails. Proper precaution against ESD is to always make sure to touch a grounded piece of metal (like a chassis or metal computer case) and discharge any built up charges before you touch any potentially damageable parts. You can also wear an anti-static wrist band when you work with sensitive equipment. One more interesting fact about ESD: long hair will hold a charge, even if you’ve otherwise discharged yourself, so be careful with it! If you have long hair, don’t allow it to accidentally brush against components that might be damaged from ESD.