I Can Spider Silk Conduct Electricity?

  • I
  • Thread starter Thread starter Delta2
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Conductivity Web
AI Thread Summary
Spider silk is generally not conductive at low voltages unless contaminated, but it can have a high breakdown voltage. Concerns about spider webs in computers focus on potential overheating due to restricted airflow rather than electrical short circuits. Maintaining spiders in the environment is beneficial, as they help control insect populations. Killing spiders may lead to issues with their webs later on, as live spiders keep their webs clean. Overall, while spider silk isn't a significant electrical hazard, it can pose other problems in electronic devices.
Delta2
Homework Helper
Insights Author
Messages
6,002
Reaction score
2,628
TL;DR Summary
Is spider's web conductive
I would like to know if spider's web is conductive.

A google search was inconclusive, some sites say that it is conductive, some that it has a high breakdown voltage.

The reason I am asking this is that it seems that I got spiders in my room (honestly I don't know where they are coming from) and they seem to do webs around my computer, so if they make webs inside my PC mainboard maybe they will short circuit it and damage it.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Delta2 said:
The reason I am asking this is that it seems that I got spiders in my room (honestly I don't know where they are coming from)
It only takes one egg sac hatching to give you zillions of little spiders.
Delta2 said:
...if they make webs inside my PC mainboard maybe they will short circuit it and damage it.
The bigger concern is overheating. All those webs will inhibit air flow.

For a local short-term solution, used fabric softener sheets tend to keep spiders away. Works wonders on sailboats.
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Likes Lnewqban, berkeman, Delta2 and 1 other person
Delta2 said:
Summary:: Is spider's web conductive

A google search was inconclusive, some sites say that it is conductive, some that it has a high breakdown voltage.
Spiders webs are not conductive for low voltages, unless they become contaminated. Live spiders clean their webs. If you kill the spiders, then their webs will become a problem later.

You need spiders. Spiders webs catch small flying insects such as mosquitoes.

Spider's web gossamer is a protein polymer we call silk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk#Structural
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Likes Lnewqban, vanhees71, Delta2 and 1 other person
Thread 'Gauss' law seems to imply instantaneous electric field'
Imagine a charged sphere at the origin connected through an open switch to a vertical grounded wire. We wish to find an expression for the horizontal component of the electric field at a distance ##\mathbf{r}## from the sphere as it discharges. By using the Lorenz gauge condition: $$\nabla \cdot \mathbf{A} + \frac{1}{c^2}\frac{\partial \phi}{\partial t}=0\tag{1}$$ we find the following retarded solutions to the Maxwell equations If we assume that...
Maxwell’s equations imply the following wave equation for the electric field $$\nabla^2\mathbf{E}-\frac{1}{c^2}\frac{\partial^2\mathbf{E}}{\partial t^2} = \frac{1}{\varepsilon_0}\nabla\rho+\mu_0\frac{\partial\mathbf J}{\partial t}.\tag{1}$$ I wonder if eqn.##(1)## can be split into the following transverse part $$\nabla^2\mathbf{E}_T-\frac{1}{c^2}\frac{\partial^2\mathbf{E}_T}{\partial t^2} = \mu_0\frac{\partial\mathbf{J}_T}{\partial t}\tag{2}$$ and longitudinal part...
Back
Top