Electric Minerals and Natural Elctricity
Piezoelectricity
Charge separation between opposite faces of a crystal occurs when it is stressed. This is due to the regular atomic structure within the crystal. The effect also works in reverse, therefore applying a potential difference to the opposing faces will cause the crystal to expand or contract, depending upon the polarity.
The most commonly known piezoelectric material is Quartz (SiO2). Many other important minerals are often found within quartz deposits. Tiny pieces of quartz are used in watches, clocks and radio transceivers to provide a stable and precise frequency for the circuitry. Piezoelectric lighters use a spring loaded hammer to strike a small crystal which will produce a high voltage spark.
The diagram on the left shows how some of the charge becomes seperated in a piezoelectric material when stressed. The effect of applying a voltage to deform the crystal is not always parralel like shown here. The effect depends on the crystal stucture and sometimes the deformation can sheer or be at different angles compared to the electric field.
Pyroelectricity
The pyroelectric effect occurs in certain materials when they are uniformly heated or cooled. This effect is directly related to the piezoelectric effect, as the charge separation occurs when the material expands or contracts due to a change in temperature. This effect is non reversible, therefore applying a potential difference to the material will not cause it to change temperature significantly.
Tourmaline is a mineral made from a mixture of substances (Na(Mg,Fe,Li,Al,Mn)3Al6(BO3)3O18(OH,F)4). It is a naturally occurring mineral, which can generate an electric field when it is heated or cooled. Natural crystal formations of Tourmaline can show a variety of colours and forms. Red Tourmaline was discovered to hold electric properties when ash particles were attracted and repelled by pieces in a fire.
Thermoelectricity
The Thermoelectric effect is used to generate a low voltage rather than a high voltage, as many stages would be required, making it impractical. This effect occurs when the junction of two dissimilar materials is heated. This arrangement is often referred to as a Thermocouple. Using differently doped pieces of silicon it is possible to produce a device known as a Peltier heat pump.
This effect also works in reverse and is known as the Seebeck or Peltier effect. When a voltage is applied to the junction heat is 'moved' in one direction therefore cooling on side and heating the other.
This device allows heat to be moved electronically from one place to another, even against the temperature gradient (from cold to hot). Simply connecting a Peltier device to a DC voltage will cause one side to freeze, whilst the other side heats up. The effectiveness of the pump at moving the heat away from the cold side is totally dependent upon how well you can remove the heat from the hot side. This device can also be used to generate electricity if a temperature difference is maintained between the two sides.
DIY Dehumidifier Using the Thermoelectric Effect
This device utilizes the cooling effect of peltier heat pumps in order to extract water from the air. The device was used in a damp basement and could collect about 500ml per day. The erratic wiring in the image make this device appear much more complex than it really is. There are a large number of wires because several different sized heat pumps were used, and each requires a different voltage. The six fans all ran from 12 volts. To provide the various voltages to the device a standard 500W ATX PC power supply was used. This type of PSU can be very useful for various experiments as they can provide a range of voltages simultaneously with a reasonable power output, and they are also overload protected.
Read more in the DIY Devices section
The information provided here can not be guaranteed as accurate or correct. Always check with an alternate source before following any suggestions made here.
thank you,
goolim
email:goolim@hotmail.com
No energy is created by the crystal, It meerly converts some kinetic energy into electrical energy.
The closest application to this that is used may be the piezoelectric transformer. This just alters the voltage and current of an alternating current that is applied the input.
Can a piece of quartz release electrical energy with a constant pressure applied rather than being struck with a hammer? If so, How can the energy be claimed and channeled for practical use?
Practical use of this is found generally in piezoelectric ignition, or piezo transformers.
In a piezoelectric crystal (not under dynamic sterss), the charge is distibuted evenly throughout.
When a force is applied to the material the outer electrons will be displaced slightly more than the nucleus of the atoms. The specific stucture of the material will determine the angle at which the displacmet occurs. In the case of Quartz, the displacement is parallel to the force. The uneven displacement of charge makes the material polarized (has + and - ends) which effectivley induces charge on the surface of the crystal. The crystal is non conductive so it allows the charges to remain seperated. The effect only occurs when the stress is changing because the charge will naturally redistribute its self to it lowest energy level.
This does not quite apply in reverse because you can apply a steady voltage to the crystal which will produce a steady deformation of the crystal material. This is because the non conductive nature of the material allows the applied voltage to remain high between its surfaces.
I hope that helps, feel free to ask more.
Where do these electrons come from? Wouldn't the effect of this on a grand scale cause the reduction of important biochemicals in the oceans of Earth?
One could also exploit this using gravity and the head (or pressure) generated by the fall of a fluid in the gravitational field. If the water is transported to the higher point through a free cycle (such as evaporation->precipitation) and can be recaptured at the higher point, energy could be extracted.
What effects does this piezoelectric effect have in nature? Does this explain the abundance of precious metals in crystal deposits? Gold is reknown for it's affinity to quartz and I can now picture some kind of natural electroplating occurring from minute quantities of gold in solution when astronomical tidal forces and plate tectonic movement charge the crystals and precipitate out metals. This would electroplate the crystals over time and also provide energy for other mineral formation requiring oxidized ions.
Just my thoughts.. could be misunderstanding things.
Electrons are not released form the crystal, they simply get displaced relative to the atomic nuclei. This change in electric field can induce electrical currents in nearby conductors.
I'm not sure how this effects biochemicals in the ocean, but I suppose the electric fields could cause some migration or dissasociation of dissolved ions in sea water.
Hydroelectric power plants are allready exploiting the free cycle. The dams provide a method for controling how much water falls under the influence of gravity. The sun then does all the work to put the water back up in the sky.
I think that the metals found crystal deposits are more a product of relative density of liquids. Piezo electricity is usually expressed in an AC form because a force is normally brief, and the relxing crystal will then produce a dipole of opposite polarity. For electoplating / electrolysis to occur, there would need to be a force that constantly increases or decreases over a long period. I'm not saying it's not possible though, I'm sure piezoelectricity does have all kinds of effects on the earth, but they are usually overwhelmed by other more noticable effects.
peace out
i'm curious how hard it would be to put a type of piezoelectric "mat" in a commonly used area of the house to see how much electricity could be generated from simle things like walking to the fridge, and to see what it would take to run different household appliances. I know it is impractical to do so I am just very curious about piezoelectricity and would like to set up some experiments and calculations of my own.
i was also curious where to get equipment to set up a piezoelectric experiment and roughly how much it costs.
thank you for your time,
~Scott
p.s. - sorry about any spelling errors i am very tired and realize my typing isn't the most accurate at the moment.
The piezoelectric mat would be quite simple to produce. You could make one using a selection of piezo sounders/transducers linked up to some sort of battery or capacitor charger. You would then be able to power small devices from the charged battery/capcitor.
You can find info on purchasing piezo sounders on the DIY Cymatics page.
what about quartz?
The efficiency of electromagnetic generators is often around 98%. I don't think quartz would be comparable for converting knetic energy to electrical energy.
stephen:
It's all fundamentally electromagnetism. If you tap energy from some vibrating system then you will cause the vibrations do diminish.
I always seem to hear that in the sunlight objects in orbit get very hot but in the shade very cool. can they use this temperature difference to generate power? does the system need to be enclosed in a gas or fluid or can it work in a vacuum?
Any amount of pressure will do something. Obviously is would vary with different crystal sizes.
The current produced is normally very low and for a brief moment. This would not register on a normal ammeter. You would have a better chance tying to measure volts. Better still would be to use an oscilloscope.
For your prototype or even the full scale model you should be looking to use the common piezoelectric transducers used for making sounds.
You cant convert a static force to a quantity or energy without also including other factors such as acceleration.
The power from tapping a crystal will of course be proportional to the power that you are tapping it with.
Energy can't be made, only converted from one form to another. The kinetic energy in the rod can be calculated as E = 0.5 x mass x velocity x velocity.
The amount of electrical energy that is available from the crystal will be less than this value due to it not being a 100% eficcient conversion process.