If I take a blanket out of the dryer and it's stuck together with a lot of static build-up, I am able to pull it apart and simply shake it out for a few seconds and all the static electricity will be gone.
Or if I take off my sweater and it builds up some static in the process. I can just "wipe" it off for a few seconds and it's gone.
How can I do this without the electricity (seemingly) discharging anywhere?
Best Answer
Static electricity is counter-intuitive, because small charges can lead to high voltages. Once you create a path for the charge to move away, that small charge only produces a small current. And because of the high voltage, it's fairly easy to create such a path.
Of course, when the blanket is stuck together because of static electricity, it means there are positive and negative static charges, else they wouldn't attract each other and not stick together. So your answer, "where do these charges go", is simply "to each other". The two can cancel, if there's a path between them, and your hand can form that path. That's how you wipe the charges off.