How to use the anti-static wrist strap

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I've always used the chassis of the computer I am working on.

ABCellars, Aug 29 2011 @ 10:52 AM

AB - that works only if it is plugged into a grounded outlet.

mayer, Aug 29 2011 @ 11:11 AM

Not so for the current/amperage held by the human body in the form of static electricity, at least that is what my college professors in electronics told me. Point to ponder: If you can't ground something to a mass of metal, explain a car's electrical system or how a laptop not plugged in works.

ABCellars, Aug 29 2011 @ 11:36 AM

Both of your examples are of direct current that ground back to the battery.

mayer, Aug 29 2011 @ 2:42 PM

That is not so. In both scenarios the battery is grounded to the chassis. If the battery is the ground then there would be no potential difference in the circuit or battery. Batteries are a storage device. If they are not attached to a ground there is no potential difference. The charge stored in the battery is what creates the potential difference between it and ground.. Voltage, or the flow of electricity, is potential difference. In the case of static electricity the human body is the battery for the static charge, a form of Direct Current. Wrist straps work because there is a potential difference between the 2 "objects" they are attached to and a large resister to create a circuit. If you remove the resister from the wrist strap you create a short. Shorts have no potential difference, no voltage and infinite current. An open circuit has infinite voltage and no current. With all do respect mayer, I have formal training in the theory of electricity from a highly accredited college on the matter.

ABCellars, Aug 30 2011 @ 7:37 AM

That's good. Why does the negative poll on the battery attach to the chassis?

mayer, Aug 30 2011 @ 8:21 AM

To give it more electrons. There is always a pole that is relatively positive in charge (+), with fewer electrons, and one that is relatively negative (-) in charge, with more electrons. The positive pole does not necessarily have a deficiency of electrons compared with neutral objects and the negative pole might not actually have a surplus of electrons with respect to neutral things. But there’s always a difference in charge between the two poles. The negative pole always has more electrons than the positive pole. Electricity is the flow of electrons. Voltage is a measure of how fast they are moving or have the potential to move. Current is how many or the volume of electrons moving.

ABCellars, Aug 30 2011 @ 9:23 AM

I think you got that backwards. Positive would discharge to the negative.

mayer, Aug 30 2011 @ 9:26 AM

While the positive flow theory is widely taught, is the oldest electrical theory and the math works in just about all situations, it was proven to be the exact opposite of how things really are over 50 years ago. It lacks the ability to explain many proven facts about the nature of electricity and what it has been proven to do in some situations. It is hard to explain why many places still teach positive flow theory. Many of the people teaching electrical theory learned it that way and have had a hard time adapting to explaining things in a manner that is 180 degrees out of how they learned them.

ABCellars, Aug 30 2011 @ 10:59 AM

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