[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by tiachopvutru

After a more in-depth introduction of the magical circle savior, it's starting to make sense. Plus, it gives me insight as to what that circle thing about. I believe they'd have more purpose than for grounding though, right? I can't quite imagine everything with the 3-prong plug is designed for the purpose of grounding. Maybe they are there to provide safety? (okay, not sure why I say that)

That third prong is purely a ground. I don't recommend trying this out, but you should be able to stick something into there and not worry about getting electrocuted. It doesn't provide electricity.

However, I'm quite curious, really... What if the case isn't made out of metal? What other alternatives would be available?

Actually, there aren't any, really. I have never seen a 100% plastic case - even the cheapest of cases have metal in them somewhere, even if it isn't very strong metal (flimsy). The only reason I keep driving the idea of metal in the case as being important is because if you just touch the plastic covering of a case, you may not sufficiently be grounding yourself.

Would there be reverse lightning if the ground actually generate electron?

Well, probably not - more likely you'd see trees and houses randomly getting zapped. There are plenty of objects that could be discharged onto before the sky. But in reality and in physics theory, the ground doesn't generate negative charge.

I saw a really neat picture that explained the concept fairly well when I was in elementary school. I couldn't find it exactly, but here's a similar one that helps to illustrate the concept:


When you get a sufficient buildup of negative charge in the cloud, it reaches to the ground in what we see as lightning. This release of negative charge helps to bring the system to greater equilibrium. Notice that the negative charge doesn't go to the tree or the ground - it's dissipated by the ground. And that's what the ground theory is all about!

Here's a bit of a more complicated explanation:


Applying all of this to working with electrical components, static would occur if your hand were that highly charged cloud, and you discharged onto the component. A static shock is basically a miniature lightning bolt. You want to equilibrate and/or discharge to a ground source so as not to damage the components.

But as I said above, it's rather easy to do, and it should only be a concern if you're in a very dry area and you're working in an area with a lot of friction.