plasma generator

[matty1122]

after getting a plasma ball to help with electricity for as physics, i found it interesting that the static electricity outside of it could disrupt my laptop and disconnect my usb devices, i was wondering is it possible to get the electrical jumps inside the ball or the statics outside it and turn it into useable electricity using say metal disks inserted inside and connected to a transformer.

[Mr Skeptic]

You should keep your laptop away from that. Or put it inside a Faraday cage. You are running the risk of frying your laptop. How interesting is that?

[Edtharan]

The electric field outside of a plasma ball is not static. A plasma ball is a lot like a neon or fluorescent tube in that it uses alternating current.

 

Because this current is oscillating, it can induce currents to occur in nearby metal objects (just like an air gap transformer). I ahve even done demonstrations where I have lit a fluorescent tube from this induced current near a plasma ball.

 

What would be happening to your laptop is that the nearby plasma tube is inducing current in the wires inside your laptop and these currents are enough to disrupt its operation (and perhaps enough to do permanent damage to it ).

 

It is for this reason that many wires have shielding, but this is usually expensive so they are not typically used on standard electrical equipment (like laptops).

 

The best advice is: Don't have your laptop anywhere near the plasma ball while the plasma ball is in operation. Even if the laptop switched off and unplugged, the currents induced by plasma ball could be enough to damage the electronics of your laptop.