Electrostatic Discharge

ALSO CALLED: ESD
DEFINITION: Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the release of static electricity when two objects come into contact. Familiar examples of ESD include the shock we receive when we walk across a carpet and touch a metal doorknob and the static electricity we feel after drying clothes in a clothes dryer. A more extreme example of ESD is a lightening bolt. While most ESD events are harmless, it can be an expensive problem  … 
Definition continues below.

ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE DEFINITION (continued): …  in many industrial environments.ESD first requires a build-up of an electrostatic charge. This occurs when two different materials rub together. One of the materials becomes positively charged; the other becomes negatively charged. The positively-charged material now has an electrostatic charge. When that charge comes into contact with the right material, it is transferred and we have an ESD event. The heat from the ESD event is extremely hot, although we do not feel it when we are shocked. However, when the charge is released onto an electronic device such as an expansion card , the intense heat … 
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