I see this happen with my water boiler for example. When I turn it on before I plug it in there’s this spark that happens between the plug and the wall. When it’s turned off it doesn’t happen. Does the boiler ‘ask’, or know when to ask, for electricity?
In: Engineering
When off, the circuit isn’t complete and so no chance of sparks. When on, the circuit is complete and so the current can then travel from one side of the plug/prong, through the device, and out/back to the wall through the 2nd prong and when there is a little distance, the current can “jump” and create a spark.
When it’s switched on the wires in the plug are directly connected to all the wiring inside your device. All this wiring and the components together create something called a ‘capacitance’, which is the ability to accept electrical charge, what electricity is made of. As you get the plug close to the wall socket, the electric field is intensified between the pins and energized socket. When it gets close enough, that electric field becomes strong enough to tear the electrons from the atoms in the air, creating a plasma or spark. This spark allows electric current to flow from the wall and into the device, until it’s capacitance is charged sufficiently to weaken the electric field and extinguish the spark.
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