You can accumulate 10,000 volts of static electricity by walking across a carpet . *

1. Static electricitycan damage the motherboard, RAM, and other electronic circuitry inside a computer. • By placing her hand on a Van de Graaff generator, this girl has positively charged her hair, causing her individual hairs to repel each other.

2. You can accumulate 10,000 volts of static electricity by walking across a carpet.* • A static shock has to be more than 3,000 volts for you to feel it, but a static shock of less than 300 volts can damage an electronic circuit. • *The number of amps in static electricity is • minute, however, so it is harmless to humans.

3. To discharge static electricity from your body, touch a bare metal surface on your computer—such as its metal case, the PCI port covers, or part of a metal frame inside your computer—while your computer is turned off but still plugged in. The static charge will then be drained through the grounding prong on your computer’s power cable.

4. Then, unplug your computer before working on it. If you do some activity that generates static electricity as you are working on your computer (for example, walking around the room), then periodically discharge yourself as you work by touching another grounded metal surface (for example, another computer that is still plugged in). Or, if your computer is plugged into a surge protector, then turn off the surge protector but leave everything plugged in. You can then periodically discharge yourself as you are working on your computer by touching a metal surface on your computer since it is still grounded through the surge protector.