>Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical >lesson: On a cool, dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet, then reach >your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings. >Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in >pain? This teaches us that electricity can be a very powerful force, >but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an >important electrical lesson. > >It also teaches us how an electrical circuit works. When you scuffed >your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small >objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpets so they will >attract dirt. The electrons travel through your bloodstream and >collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your >friend's filling, then travels down to his feet and back into the >carpet, thus completing the circuit. > >Amazing Electronic Fact: If you scuffed your feet long enough without >touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your >finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you >have carpeting. > -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?"