Electrostatic shielding: The fact that there is no electric field inside a close conductor, when it contains no charged bodies, was demonstrated by Faraday in a spectacular manner. He made for himself a large wire cage, supported it on insulators, and sat inside it with his electroscopes. He then has the cage charged by an induction machine until painful sparks could be drawn from its outside. Inside the cage Faraday sat in safety and comfort, and there was no deflection to be seen on even his most sensitive electroscope.
If we wish to protect any persons or instruments from intense electric fields(electrostatic shielding), therefore, we enclose them in hollow conductors; these are called ‘Faraday cages’, and are widely used in high – voltage measurements in industry.
We may also wish to prevent charges in one place from setting up an electric field beyond their immediate neighbourhood. To do this we surround the charges with a Faraday cage, and connect the cage to earth. The charges induced on the outside of the cage then runs to earth, and there is no external field. (When a cage is used to shield something inside it, it does not have to be earthed.)
Comparison Of Static And Current Phenomena
Broadly speaking, we may say that in electrostatic phenomena we meet small quantities of charge, but great differences of potential. On the other hand in the phenomena of current electricity, the potential differences are great. Sparks and shock are common in electrostatics, because they require great potential differences; but they are rarely dangerous, because the total amount of energy available is usually small. On the hand, shocks and sparks in current electricity are rare, but, when the potential difference is great enough to cause them, they are likely to be dangerous.
These quantitative difference make problems of insulation much more difficult in electrostatic apparatus than in apparatus for use with currents. The high potentials met in electrostatics make leakage disappear rapidly. Any wood, for example, ranks as an insulator for current electricity, but a conductor in electrostatics. In electrostatic experiments we sometimes wish to connect a charged body to earth; all we have then to do is touch it.
