Thus is a common occurrence. The iPhone was not actually connected to you so 
the large E field induced a different charge on you than on the phone and hence 
the discharge through your ear (the lowest breakdown between the iPhond and you.
Such discharges have led to claims of injury that ended up in court. Telephone 
operators and radar operators (such as in air traffic control) experience this 
effect. The first case I was involved with was 20 years ago and since have 
provided expertise to lawyers on legal cases involving this effect. The 
discharge is not dangerous, but people have been convinced they were nearly 
electrocuted and have been hauled off to the hospital on a stretcher!
Doug Smith Sent from my iPhone IPhone: 408-858-4528 Office: 702-570-6108 Email: 
d...@dsmith.org Website: http://dsmith.org
On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 18:21, Ken Javor <ken.ja...@emccompliance.com> wrote:
ESD question Just curiosity.

Spent a week in the cold frozen north. Single Fahrenheit digits (above and 
below zero) outside, snow on the ground, 70 degrees inside – dry air. Was able 
to generate some pretty decent lightning simulations walking around and 
especially stripping a bed that had some sort of fuzzy (no doubt synthetic 
material) blanket. While stripping the bed, I was listening to a podcast on an 
iPhone, through wired earbuds. I could hear the discharges through the earbuds. 
That was some sort of interference, but not the question of interest here. What 
was interesting is that the bigger sparks not only zapped where I made contact 
(typically hands) but also from the earbuds to my inner ear (ouch)! That’s not 
what I said, but close enough.

The iPhone was in a leather pouch suspended from by belt. The hook around the 
belt was metal, the belt was leather, and there were (denim cotton) pants 
between the hook on the inside of the belt and my skin. To my understanding, 
the iPhone and earbuds should have been at near or the same potential I was, 
and even if not, it was certainly no sort of ground – completely isolated from 
anything except me.

So the question is why was there such a potential difference between iPhone and 
earbuds and me that my ears were zapped?

Ken Javor
Phone: (256) 650-5261
-
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc 
discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < 
emc-p...@ieee.org [emc-p...@ieee.org] >

All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: 
http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html [http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html]

Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at 
http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ [http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/] 
can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc.

Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ [http://www.ieee-pses.org/]
Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) 
[http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html]
List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html 
[http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html]

For help, send mail to the list administrators:
Scott Douglas < sdoug...@ieee.org [sdoug...@ieee.org] >
Mike Cantwell < mcantw...@ieee.org [mcantw...@ieee.org] >

For policy questions, send mail to:
Jim Bacher < j.bac...@ieee.org [j.bac...@ieee.org] >
David Heald < dhe...@gmail.com [dhe...@gmail.com] >

-
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc 
discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to 
<emc-p...@ieee.org>

All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at:
http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html

Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at 
http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used 
formats), large files, etc.

Website:  http://www.ieee-pses.org/
Instructions:  http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe)
List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html

For help, send mail to the list administrators:
Scott Douglas <sdoug...@ieee.org>
Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org>

For policy questions, send mail to:
Jim Bacher:  <j.bac...@ieee.org>
David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>

Reply via email to