Uses and dangers of static electricity- page 83

USES:

Static electricity is used in electrostatic sprayers

Photocopiers use static electricity to copy images onto a charged plate before printing them.

Static electricity can be used to reduce the dust and smoke that rises out of industrial chimneys.

Another use of static electricity is electrostatic sprayers:

Electrostatic sprayers are used in various industries to give a fine, even coat of whatever's being sprayed. The classic examples are insecticide sprayers and paint sprayers.

The spray gun is charged, which charges up the small drops od paint. Each paint drop repels all the others, since they've all got the same charge, so you get a very fine, even spray.

The object to be painted is given an opposite charge to the gun. This attracts the fine spray of paint.

This method gives an even coat and hardly any point is wasted. In addition, parts of the bicycle or car pointing away from the spray gun still recieve paint, i.e. there are no paint shadows.

Insecticide sprayers work in a similar way, except the crops to be sprayed aren't given an opposite charge- the plants charge by induction…