i put a redskins hat over my smoke detector yesterday for decoration (because redskins rule) and it went off for like 20 seconds. how did this happen? i didnt accidentally hit the test button or anything. last year i saw someone with a plastic bag taped over theirs because they used to smoke weed in their room. how did that work, yet this didnt? i'm so confused..
No, that's not what would happen. Electricity wouldn't fly around the room, and it wouldn't make that much of a difference if it was hit. If you are concerned, plug a fan into a surge protector, and don't worry about it.
No, materials do NOT absorb electricity. No such thing. They either conduct it or insulate against it. Rubber or plastic gloves will insulate against electricity. edit: re your additional comments, Anything that runs off of batteries cannot give you a shock, as the voltages are too low, you do not need gloves. The only exception if for batteries over 40 volts, which are very uncommon. If you are working with higher voltages, such as AC line voltages, you can get killed, so you need to know what you are doing, and take the proper precautions. Gloves may be one of these, although, I've worked in that area for decades and never used gloves. And apparently you know nothing of electricity, if you use meaningless phrases like nothing dealing with volts of electricity.
The angle is the best you are going to get. I had a Lotus that always scraped a speed bump in the local supermarket parking lot - it is just part of the price.
