subject: What is a Faraday Cage? [print this page] What is a Faraday Cage? What is a Faraday Cage?
If you have come across the word faraday cage your mind might start thinking that this is a cage for an animal. But the truth of the matter is it is not an animal cage.
The Faraday cage or Faraday shield was invented by an English scientist named Michael Faraday in 1836. The cage is really an enclosure formed by conducting material that blocks out external static electric fields. It was designed to work depending on the external static electrical field that causes electrical charges within the cage's conducting material to redistribute themselves in order to cancel the field's effect in the interior cage. However there are things that this cage cannot block such as the Earth's magnetic field. But despite this it is most common to see this cage use to protect electronic equipment from lightning and electrostatic discharges.
Faraday cages can be found in electronic labs, hospitals, telecommunication buildings and areas where stray EM fields should not be present. This cage also maybe and may not be helpful at times such as when it prevents the escape of EM fields emitted by a cathode-ray-tube computer monitor in which is intercepted and translated by hacker to view on screen data in real time without using viruses, cables or cameras. In turn government officials can use this to view criminal activities and prevent bad things from taking place.
Common things where a Faraday Cage can be found:
Coaxial cable:
This electrical cable has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer which is surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. This cable can be found commonly in cable television's to protect its internal conductors from noise.
Booster Bag:
Often used by shoplifters to steal RFID-tagged items because it is lined with aluminum foil that acts as an Faraday cage. Booster bag
A booster bag is a hand-made bag used to shoplift, typically from retail stores, libraries, and any other location employing security detectors to deter theft. The booster bag can be an ordinary shopping bag, backpack, pocketed garment, or other inconspicuous container whose inside is lined with a...
Microwave oven:
This kitchen appliance cooks food by dielectric heating. This is done by using microwave radiation to heat water and other polarized molecules in a food thus making its cooking chamber Faraday cage that contains the RF signals of a Cavity magnetron.
Some linemen wear Faraday suits:
The suit that you see linemen wear allows them to work on live high voltage power lines without the risk of being electrocuted. Also these suits are known to have no voltage limits because it successfully works even at the highest voltage lines safely.
