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Not sure If

Posted by unclestu52 (D) on August 11, 2008 at 12:24:39

In Reply to: Isn't some shock to a piezoelectric what it takes to get a field? posted by Norm on August 11, 2008 at 08:53:36:

I am addressing your question.

Normally, in most instances of piezo electricity, a mechanical pressure on a crystal latticework generates a small electrical charge. This is the working principle of many pieces of instrumentation: the stylus pressure gauges from Technics are a good example, and so were their strain gauge cartridges which had the cantilevers applying pressure to a tuned crystal.

The inverse is also true, however. A piezoelectric crystal in the presence of a electrical field can generate motion. Again the practical application of this are the crystal oscillators which form the basis for your cell phones, radio tuners, and even the clocking mechanism for your digital players.

However, I am not so sure that mechanical vibration will cause ionic emission. Certainly a large amount of vibration can induce heat and thus create the pyroelectric effect, but I would suspect that such large amounts may not be as effective as the simple application of heat.

Paul's experimentation of placing the tourmaline on the hotter components within the chassis as well as the graph he posts seems to indicate this. IIRC, he stated that he used silicon to glue down the crystals that he used. In order to better the harness the piezo effect, where fields can generate motion within the crystal and thus dissipate that energy in the form of heat, a very soft pliable attachment method would be preferred.

I use Blue Tack, or that Duco stuff sold for about $2 a packet and used to hold posters onto walls. It stays very pliable and is quite sticky and in my experience seems to work very well: allowing the crystal some means to move. Further experimentation using something like a contact lens holder and placing the crystal within in a pool of mineral oil seems to extend the highs even further using the same crystal. It would not be recommended for the tourmaline as the fluid will affect the ionic exchange, however.

That being said, I do not know if the pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties are inter related. For my simple mind, I prefer to keep the concepts separate, but I am not sure if that is the case in reality. Certainly some relation must exist, as the heated tourmaline emits a field, but then I am not sure if the tourmaline is still piezoelectric and the relation of field generated to mechanical movement is still present.

My guess is that one could conduct a simple experiment and use a bit of hard glue (hot glue would work) to fasten a piece of tourmaline and then compare the same crystal attached with the blue tack. Seems to me on the hair dryers and curlers the tourmaline is a in a fixed state. That does not mean that the effect may be enhanced by mounting it with a more pliable attachment system.


Stu

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