🔍 Key Concepts

• Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection when working with CMOS devices • Purpose of the resistor built into a wrist strap (safety vs. static discharge path) • Proper grounding methods for anti-static equipment

💭 Think About

• What is the main reason technicians wear a wrist strap when handling CMOS electronics, and how does its resistance value affect both safety and static discharge? • Is it necessary (or even appropriate) to connect ESD wrist straps directly to building plumbing like a water pipe, or are there better grounding practices? • Would a properly designed ESD wrist strap interfere with or complement other anti-static measures like floor mats?

✅ Before You Answer

• Check how many ohms of resistance are typically built into a safe ESD wrist strap (order of magnitude: tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands? millions?). • Verify whether TTL devices (a different logic family) have any restriction on using ESD protection like wrist straps. • Confirm whether proper ESD setups are designed so multiple protections (wrist strap + mat) work together, not against each other.