Question

sparks are often observed ( or heard ) on a dry day when clothes are removed in the dark. explain .

Answer 1

Well.. ahm - what's the first thing you think of, when thinking about sparks? I mean - with what fundamental physical property (of matter) does this have to do?

Answer 2

it is electric fields

Answer 3

Well.. I'd drop the "fields" - 'cause they are just some mathematical tool, but yeah: the phenomenon is known as electricity and the property's name is charge, respectively.

Now.. do you know about atoms? They are made out of different parts. Can you name them? Do you know about the charge of those different parts?

Answer 4

like u mean ions and stuff

Answer 5

I didn't mean ions, no (although that's very related) - I meant, what is one single atom made of?
What's "and stuff" ?

Answer 6

this is actually pretty simple.
Clothes rub against your body and electrons are transferred so a charge builds up. When the resulting electric field gets large enough, it breaks down the air -- it rips electrons from the air molecules -- and a bunch of electrons are transferred from the object having net negative charge to the object having net positive charge. As the electrons go back to the air molecules light is given out and a sound is heard.

Source: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfadd/1360/23EFields/HmwkSol.html

Answer 7

Yeah - @rajathsbhat: You know how the code of conduct[1] states, you should try and help people and NOT just give the asker an answer? So please delete your comment and refrain from doing that in the future, would you? Thanks :)

1. http://openstudy.com/code-of-conduct

Answer 8

what i'm saying is you don't have to give a lecture about atoms and ions (as you seem to be doing) in order to make her understand what's going on. It's pretty straigtforward. And I have read every line of the CoC, thanks. I don't think I'm violating it here. I have given a clear explanation and that's it.

Answer 9

^rajathsbhat is right

Answer 10

First of all, this is in no way a lecture - but how the hell would I know what she does know about this subject and what she doesn't know. And how do you know for that matter?

Second: "It's pretty straigtforward. " Are you friggin kidding me? How is it straightforward that one will hear or see an electric discharge? This whole thing is so _not_ straightforward.

Third: You copy and pasted an answer from a site where the caption says "homework solutions" and yet are claiming not to violate the code of conduct? Are you just trolling or seriously trying to piss off the people that truly want to help others understand?

Answer 11

*sigh* now I have to argue with you....
1. You're right, I don't know what she knows and what she doesn't. But I've been on this site long enough to know that people have a pretty decent amount of background knowledge when they ask questions and if they don't , they usually state that. The way in which I approach conceptual questions like this is I first explain what's happening, assuming some background knowledge. And I ask the asker to hit me up if he/she hasn't understood the explanation clearly. This saves both of our time and I can address specifics only if necessary.

2.Whether it is straightforward or not is decided by the asker. Now, I have no problems going into details of all the concepts coming into play here (and the underlying beauty therein). But, I'm looking at a high-school student who is probably asking/thinking about this question for the first time. They just want to get a feel for what is (basically) going on in terms of the concepts he/she has (probably) just learnt. As he/she attains maturity, they will start to apply what they have learnt and appreciate the problem at a deeper level.

3. I don't care what the caption says.
First of all, I could have decided not to include the source at all (I included it because it has some pretty useful info about similar conceptual questions) Second, the only reasons I copy-pasted it from there is because a) I was too lazy to type it out and b) It is worded wonderfully (in the sense that it is short and simple).

I will not entertain further arguments on this matter. Thanks.

Answer 12

That's a pity, 'cause I was totally ready to help you... What part of "I will encourage and guide those needing help, and not just give them an answer" and "Don’t post only answers - guide the asker to a solution." didn't you understand?

If her assignment is to "explain the sparks .. [and so on]" and you go ahead and post some sentences that do exactly that, how is this guiding and not answering? I'm a little lost here, see: english is not my first language so I probably just got it aaaall mixed up, didn't I??

How would she ever get the idea to just copy that exact statement onto her homework sheet - what teenager would do such a thing? Nooo - that's probably why she continued to ask so much.. (admittedly this argument might have to do a little something with it and I am very sorry for that).
Yeah, you must have years of experience teaching physics to high school students...

Answer 13

Yeah, I would say you just got it all mixed up.

Answer 14

Although, I'm in no mood to argue, I will say one last thing. This topic of cheating on a test and/or copying answers onto homework has been given a LOT of thought by the good people who run this site. Everybody agrees that this is not a perfect system. So, I try to help people to the best of my capacity and leave it at that.