How Piezoelectric Gas Lighter/Igniter works
| Photo Credit: KAMURAN AĞBABA
Ever seemed inside a range lighter and questioned the place the spark comes from? The spark is created by piezoelectricity.
Piezoelectricity is a outstanding phenomenon whereby some supplies – together with quartz, ceramics similar to lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and even sure organic substances like bone and the tendons – can generate an electrical cost in response to mechanical stress. This property is the results of their uncommon crystal constructions. Usually, the fees on atoms within the molecules that make them up are symmetric on two sides of an axis. When some stress is utilized, the molecule turns into distorted and the asymmetry of expenses offers rise to a small electrical present.
The time period “piezoelectric” itself originates from the Greek phrases “piezein,” which means ‘to squeeze’, and “elektron”, for amber – a cloth recognized for its affiliation with static electrical energy.
Some supplies additionally show an inverse piezoelectric impact, the place the applying of an electrical present induces a mechanical deformation.
Both direct and inverse piezoelectric supplies are extensively utilized in stress sensors, accelerometers, and acoustic gadgets – the place their capability to transform mechanical indicators into electrical indicators is essential. The piezoelectric impact can also be what made quartz watches so frequent and, over time, reasonably priced.
