As a person moves about in a dry environment, electric charge accumulates on his

Question

As a person moves about in a dry environment, electric charge accumulates on his body. Once it is at high voltage, either positive or negative, the body can discharge via sometimes noticeable sparks and shocks. Consider a human body well separated from ground, with the typical capacitance 120 pF. What charge on the body will produce a potential of 14.0 kV? Sensitive electronic devices can be destroyed by electrostatic discharge from a person. A particular device can be destroyed by a discharge releasing an energy of 270 A mu J. To what voltage on the body does this energy correspond?

Explanation / Answer

For (a) I used Q=VC

Q = (120 x 10^-12 F) x (14.0 x 10^3 V) = 1.68 µC

B)

U = ½CV² Energy in a cap in Joules

270 µJ = ½(120pF)V²

V² = 540µ / 120p =5.4e6

V = 2121.32 volts

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