How to squeeze electricity out of crystals - Ashwini Bharathula

View full lesson: ed.ted.com/less...
It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will actually generate its own electricity. This simple crystal can act like a tiny power source because sugar happens to be piezoelectric. Ashwini Bharathula explains how piezoelectric materials turn mechanical stress, like pressure, sound waves and other vibrations into electricity, and vice versa.
Lesson by Ashwini Bharathula, animation by Karrot Animation.

[@mer7cer7]

Those hippies were right. Those crystals vibrate with energy!!!

[@trs_4612]

John Smith lol I have crystals for my chakras

[@ColtraneTaylor]

They also know of energies beyond eletricity.

[@rosalindaabeytia7389]

😂

[@johnathansmith713]

Spiritual and scientific things are actually the same but different like fraternal twins

[@TheDayd111returns]

@@johnathansmith713 Mhm! Spirituality and Technology are def the same, just retold in different stories.

[@patrickbrumm4120]

I used to dig for quartz crystals in Arkansas, and one time had a pair of "pounders" which were too damaged or too cloudy to be worth much so I used this pair to rub together at night to get them to glow! Great fun was had by all.

[@solaria777]

So you rubbed two crystals and they started to glow with electricity? Thats neat

[@elyeyi369]

Are you serious? That's possible?

[@jamespotter1436]

That sounds sick

[@monkpool]

Unpolished crystals are powerful

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@abdullahalshudukhi684]

Now I can safely say that this is the best animation I've seen on this show since the begging, I mean God damn this is better than most of the shows on TV. Great work, keep it up.

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@FortyTwo42]

Hats off to your creative content! You really inspire us make interesting content so that people watch more and more!

[@andrearodgers9708]

+Forty Two your content is really cool, i really love your channel.

[@meltdown6856]

Forty Two so true

[@princeari92]

+1

[@teanashookson3638]

Forty Two Hey aren't you the answer to life, the universe and EVERTHING!!??????? 😂😂😉

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@vibecheck2132]

I showed my biology teacher your channel and now he shows us all your newest videos.

[@longplays2420]

"silk is piezoelectric" *takes every single piece of silk in the house and stack them and sit on them*

[@LughSummerson]

Electrocuted by lingerie. Your contribution to science will be remembered. RIP.

[@matroosoft4589]

That's why women are so powerfull

[@longplays2420]

matroosoft wow sounds sexist

[@dropmelon]

Guys don't wear lingerie so the joke is not sexist.

[@longplays2420]

gay men do at least my neighbor does

[@SilentSnipest]

This is a fantastic animation style.

[@thenikhilray99]

Austin Anderson I am interested to know who did this animation ?😭

[@Galloh]

It's the first time I came to say that about TedEx talks. It's amazingly animated!

[@liangweilim2450]

In the description is says Karrot Animation did it.

[@thenikhilray99]

yeah man..already checked their website. They have made pretty awesome stuff.

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@sanchitaabrol]

I am currently in the midst of preparing my M.Tech thesis in harvesting piezoelectricity and this video was an amazing watch!! It so vividly explains the phenomenon with utmost clarity and simplicity. Loved it! :D

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@ausitnsalas3368]

Could I possibly access your thesis? I am doing a project that involves trying to incorporate piezoelectric generators into a rocket during flight. I am trying to find a way to increase its capabilities but haven’t found much.

[@MiraJain]

I remember hearing that these are also used for more powerful microscopes. When they have to focus in on an object in the nanoscale, without breaking or dulling the tiny fragile equipment(specifically the cantilever), they need to "inch" one way or another in extremely small units. They run current through piezoelectric materials, which then move the probe part of the microscope up/down or sideways just slightly. I'm not very sure about what I'm saying, does anyone know enough to explain it properly?

[@KevinSalim]

No I don't, but I'm replying in case someone explain it :D

[@ChangeUrAtOnYT.comSlashHandle]

Well, fuck. Not even I knew that. Thanks for mentioning that, mate.

[@Darsh0019]

Mira Jain replying to learn more about this

[@user-zf9oh1sz1r]

i dont realy know anything about this but it does make sense becuse in the video they say that when you pass a current in this typy of materail it changes its size. soo if you can make a small current that will allow you to make small changes to the size and that can move the microscop a littile. i guss...

[@KezzaFTW]

When a voltage (electric force) is applied to both sides of the crystal, the charged particles that make up the crystal redistribute themselves to align with the electric field (so negative charges move towards the positive side and positive charges move towards the negative side). Depending on the polarity (direction) of this voltage, the crystal will either compress, or expand, this is basically what is shown at 2:45, but in reverse. This small shift in position can be enough to move an object into focus on a microscope. They also use this technique in manufacturing to produce very small objects with precision, such as the billions of transistors inside a computer chip. In this case, they will use many crystals to get the exact positioning required.

[@Pureignition58]

This is the part of my education that was wiped out from seizure activity. So many questions that have been in my mind for a decades are being answered. Thank you! Millions of ideas are springing from this right now i have to research more.

[@kiya___]

"Welcome back to my laboratory, where safety is number one priority" *puts on cool shades*

[@vincentkhang5264]

The graphics are amazing! Holy crap, keep those animations up!!

[@jessicafuller6474]

this is one of the most BEAUTIFULLY animated episodes yet!! hats off, TedEd!!

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

This was an absolute delight. Thank you, all involved! I do wish that learning too, all manner of signalling molecules, carried with it just such a soundtrack...

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@Radicalshikami]

the animation and the knowledge in this video are superb, thanx for all your work.

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@mtv565]

So that's why Dr Robotnik always wanted the chaos emeralds!!!

[@ily9565]

the animation was awesome in this video

[@maxbyrne8062]

you guys have really helped me out. thank you so much! my school isn't great and I got an academic achievement award thanks to you! thanks! -Katie MJ

[@guineverecelis5940]

DuckJoan 04 your lucky 😥

[@Twas-RightHere]

If, as this video suggests, the quartz produces a current when constant pressure is applied to it, what factor is stopping us from just stacking a bunch of weight on the crystal and producing infinite energy...?

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@janatashaev5388]

Your animations are not only interesting and well done but also keep some (medical) students from failing. Thank you!

[@RedJacketCapcomKid]

I really want to look more into this as an energy source.

[@Potato22]

animation is top notch

[@abhijeet1abhijeet]

This should be shown in schools

[@iAMToXiiiK]

this was a beautifully animated and informational video, I learned so much from this short video!

[@rakeemdesigns]

Amazing animation ! 🔥

[@mirzoboev]

animation is perfect. thank yoh for so talented person

[@LookLoLiPoP]

this one is already changed the world.

[@BlackWolf42-]

Piezo discs are inside of those electronic drum pads. The harder you hit the drum pad, the louder the controller plays the drum sound.

[@Tom_SDM]

I only knew about Piezoelectric crystals because they're used in the pickup systems for Acoustic Guitars, allowing them to be amplified like an Electric Guitar without a Microphone :D

[@tardarsauce3355]

Fascinating. I can't believe this actually existed for so long

[@peterolaihovdehansen1814]

but how does the electrical current effect the crystals on molecule scale?

[@pinkcrystaltea3144]

they may change shape overtime.

[@johnhmaloney]

Piezoelectric pickups are often used on acoustic instruments, particularly guitars, and I've always wondered how they work. This was a great explanation. I've also heard a few different pronunciations over the years that I've been playing, so it's nice to finally know which one is correct.

[@ricktheexplorer]

FINALLY - I learned something today! Thanks always, Ted-Ed!

[@nishantsaini579]

Hi😁

[@rickring1396]

Thank you Scott

[@awkweird_panda]

That was some amazing animation.....

[@RussianBot69420]

SO WHEN YOU RUN AND YOU COMPRESS YOUR BONES YOU GET LIT

[@vishwamithra3390]

Ted ed is just ridiculously awesome. Can you guys do a video on more basic things. Like the simple electromagnetic effect/ Electromagnetic waves? Especially relative to what is the electric field/magnetic field changing?, How can there be no time lag between these two fields?.-Thanks ted ed

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@muhamadazamuddin5925]

OMG! The animation *has upgraded*. So cool! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@cavv0667]

What I'm missing here is a mention of how efficient this technology is... Always with the missing information.

[@kiq4767]

^

[@oscarbear7498]

Exactly,

[@reinatr4848]

The video is 5 minutes long! Should they explain everything?

[@chaorrottai]

Interestingly enough, there is almost no energy in compressing a solid since energy is defined as KG m^2/s^2. So using PZT-5A as an example. If you have a 37 mm diameter, 5 mm thick piece of PZT and you press on it with 9.81 N of force or the equivalent of setting a 1 kg weight on the PZT. The PZT will compress 164 picometers so the energy expended compressing the PZT-5A is 9.81 N * 164 pM which is around 1.648 nJ. Now you use the D33 value and the G33 value and the pressure in pascals to determine the power generated. They cruely list the values in C*m^2/N which is c / (N/M^2) and N/M^2 is a pascal. But for PZT the G33 is 326 pC/PA and 2.4 mV/Pa. pressure is force / surface area. So the PZT-5A experiences 2281 pascals of pressure. So the PZT-5A will make 24.35 mJ of energy. The opposite is true when using the PZT-5A as a prime mover. It's like a striling engine. If you use a striling engine to move heat energy aroun, it's a heat pump and has a COP > 1 but if you use it as a heat driven engine, it has a COP that is equal to 1/COP when you are using it as a heat pump. Perfect inversion of energy. It's also why stirling engines are not free energy.

[@ayushsharma9270]

Well, so squeeze the energy out from space using the dynamic Casmir effect using these....

[@ralph7349]

beautiful animation as always

[@salmaankaroush9371]

the sidewalk charging would be revolutionary and super useful

[@peterrealar2.067]

Clever, using people's activity to power the lights.

[@DavidAllen-px7gr]

I can see a pretty good portable power source powered by something like this; Modify a crank clamp (Those tools you turn the crank and it squeezes what's between its two plates) so it has conductive ends (The parts that push on the object) and have wires going from the clamps to an output, secure a properly cut Quartz Crystal in between so compressing it will create charges on the clamp plates, and that output can power something. Also, make sure you put on insulators where appropriate to keep the user from getting shocked by accident. It's not too expensive, capable of being carried like a water bottle, and can probably work a light or motor for a good long while. (I came up with this before today, 8:40 a.m. on 7-17-2017) The low current might be a problem...

[@mmunivenugopal8016]

Excellent explanation..... It will be used to my seminar presentation on piezoelectric materials

[@stefanybob3128]

What if we used these crystals at concerts? The noise would be converted into electricity, which can be used to power the equipment.

[@Alex2Buzz]

Also, iirc, most computers use a piezoelectric crystal (called a clock crystal) to generate the clock signal that keeps all their components in sync with each other.

[@miguellopes7627]

awesome channel

[@victoriacorcimaru1731]

Such an awesome explanation!!! Very interesting too

[@KentTheExplorer333]

If you use electromagnetic fields to "squeeze" the crystal instead of doing it physically the energy output would be exponentially greater.

[@itsrtvbaby]

Is this why people "charge" there crystals using the sun?

[@riashatrafat]

How come people dislike such a cool topic?

[@elbadilan462]

Oh man, the last part would be a huge benefit!

[@SammiSweetz]

Thanks for the video, y'all did a great job! I love the visuals

[@tarrymoo2010]

This is so cool! I loaf this channel

[@anoopxzxz1318]

That was an amazing video ... my mind was blown

[@monstermushmush]

i like these types of ted ed videos

[@camig4149]

Could you do a video on what exactly electricity is as well. I've watched a couple videos on electricity, like this one, but I don't know what it truly is or how it behaves. BTW those too scientists are my favourites when it comes to TED-Ed animations.

[@ridindatta1592]

the animation was LIT.

[@AlejandroThacker]

Amazing animation and flow of information.

[@CalebJMartin]

Very well-done video! Precisely what I needed; thank you!

[@ninadnevrekar]

Wish if ted ed videos were long enough

[@ryannu1578]

I feel like this energy source is under appreciated charging a phone walking isn't a wow moment considering the practicality of energy through crystals an sounds is a wow moment

[@ryannu1578]

For all you know this is the missing element to infinite energy I mean it's powered by noise an motion for all you know there's a crystal better than quartz that could create large amounts of energy

[@rokeyaelapreety885]

This video was sooo amazing and unique!! I loved it!

[@sidneychagas1005]

Show de bola essa explicação sobre os materiais piezoelétricos.

[@emedi.09]

as I am not an electrical engineer nor anything similar. Mind = Blown

[@holysword876]

This animation is top notch!

[@Masfugo]

why I never heard of this awesome discovery ? damn

[@logout52hz]

This is awesome! Thanks TED-ED !

[@akashdubey9132]

Superb !!!!! Now words to describe

[@dogon3]

Now that I know it would cost so much to produce the material composed of crystals, I can shelve the idea. I could never save enough energy to pay back the production cost.

[@walksaselk40]

bullets that fry electrical circuits? Fusion reactors that generate heat on their own? Spaceships that gain power by colliding with specks of dust?

[@lokeshyamasani5978]

Great presentation

[@lulunisrina]

i searched up piezoelectricity for an assignment dear God, intelligent and curious people are amazing

[@rongarza9488]

So WHILE a crystal is being compressed, it generates a direct current in one direction. Once the compression stops, no current is generated. But, WHILE a compressed crystal is being released (decompressed), it generates a direct current in the opposite direction. Once the decompression stops, no current is generated. Is that right, or is there more to it?

[@deepikabinji9220]

Very nice explanation 👌👌👍👍

[@mdjahangiransari457]

Thank you.This video is useful in many ways.

[@sathishkumarap4338]

Great lecture hats off

[@reegancp9488]

Very useful ill suggest to be next video also by this based on by diff electricity topic Great Ashwini bharathula...and karrot.

[@kienlabindao1928]

this is just freaking amazing

[@tineleplays1661]

This video needs more views!

[@spacewalker9375]

I'm actually learning about this right now in my intelligent structure class

[@jilligain3409]

Very cool! I love learning about things like this. Physics is my fav subject

[@fatherreality7583]

This video was pretty informative about piezoelectric materials, It's a bummer that I already knew about this stuff for a long time now which kinda made the video less exciting. I guess the only thing I learned is the atomic structure symmetry.

[@palaurunpis4145]

instead of making roads out of them why not make shoes???

[@chriszhao1736]

Would you like to walk everywhere with cords attached to your shoes?

[@IQuick143cz]

So having a cable sticked into the ground while walking is better?

[@ChangeUrAtOnYT.comSlashHandle]

*stuck

[@adamriaz8203]

You wouldn't have a cable in the ground, it could be used on roads to generate some charge to be used in sockets that you would connect something to, or through an alternative solution. But the energy generated from your shoe wouldn't be enough to power your phone anyway, it would be insignificant.

[@IQuick143cz]

That way it gives sense and I have to agree with you that the shoe alone wouldn't have enouth power. But the way Chris presented it it seemed like "having a cable sticked into the ground while walking would be better".

[@ShadowKick32]

Awesome animation, nicely explained. I also wanted to know that for a while but noone knew and i forgot about it.

[@user-ug8sm7uh4t]

can you help me to finding anything that connects me to the original RAIF technology. disease (metastatic cancer)

[@timvdp7460]

Yup..got it

[@keithk5504]

I remember that back in the day mica the mineral was used to make computer chips

[@anikettripathi7991]

In technology nothing is absolute ,we always have something to upgrade and move for better technologies.

[@scienceandinspiration1362]

Thank you that was very helpful.

[@yuta2349]

This is so fascinating !

[@anikaroy8311]

can you make one on pyroelectricity as well?

[@1234ToddgMr]

Just take two agates and grind them together in your hand in total darkness and watch the sparks. That's how the fire breathing leviathan made fire when he belched methane gas from his tummy and chewed rocks having quartz at the same time. The sparks from crunching on rocks like chickens do set the methane gas from his stomach on fire. Animals that lay eggs, eat pebbles to make shells for their eggs. Man walked with dinos. Anyway the sparks are neat.

[@jamesnoahandersonjr76]

Well the first thing I think of, what can't we use with that, that's the first answer I have, and probably the last. Does that work with a hydraulic press also for more Force?

[@rosalindaabeytia7389]

Excellent, thank you

[@vinodgootam4271]

This was well done. I really enjoyed it.

[@georgequilitz8530]

Put a crystal in a position which compresses it without power, like putting weight on it, and you have power

[@godzilla964]

Piezo crystals are in acoustic guitars.

[@mazenomar9803]

What an interesting video!

[@janpokorny9710]

Is this why so manny sci-fi films/series/books use crystals lie a source of energy?

[@ferronzomeren2733]

One of the few things I already knew!! YAY!!