Submitted by hondata001 t3_111esnl in askscience
Hi, I'm looking for an explanation of what's happening in this YouTube video.
Is this from the piezoelectric effect creating tiny sparks when the metal hits, from the crystals in the metal or coating? The drill bits are coated in titanium nitride but the un-coated ends hitting have the same effect.
HomicidalTeddybear t1_j8hb374 wrote
You've got titanium nitride coated drillbits sitting on what looks like a velvet-like cloth. Titanium nitride is triboelectric. You're generating a shittonne of static electricity just by moving it around on the cloth from the triboelectric effect, every time you touch the two together it's discharging, producing a broadband source of RF.
I'm betting if you attached a ground wire to both drillbits and got rid of the cloth you'd see nothing or next to nothing.