Piezoelectricity - why hitting crystals makes electricity

[@KelsomaticPDX]

I always cordoned off Piezoelectricity as one of those things I just wouldn't ever really understand. It's sort of delightfully simple thanks to your breakdown! Really appreciate this video, it opens up a better understanding of so many electronics.

[@Infinion]

now the question remains, is a voltage being produced by the impulse or impact from compressing/deforming and relaxing the crystal, or do you think a constant pressure would yield a constant voltage?

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

Where does the Cristal recharge it's charges from?

[@Mr.BobsDog]

@@DANTHETUBEMAN from unicorn blood

[@freemind..]

@@GabrielCazorlaPersson1 - Are you familiar with the Earthtide theory as the mechanism for Earth's magnetic field? Imo it makes more sense than the core dynamo hypothesis. The gist is that 95% of the Earth's crust is quartz-based, and that tidal forces from the Moon produce a diurnal flexing on the Earth's heavily faulted crust, which generates a piezoelectric field - "magnetic field" is a misnomer. Anyway, it solves many of the mysteries associated with the field and provides predictive ability whereas the dynamo theory does not.

[@IamMarjoree]

Thanks Steve

[@rpbp4468]

Probably the only person who ACTUALLY DESCRIBES WHY and does not just repeat what they "researched" without understanding.

[@cogen7996]

You mean 'scientists' ..

[@soultrick7474]

exactly! Like 95% of all science youtubers are just wikipedia readers :D

[@jeffv2074]

He had me until he said chakras don't exists 🤣a bit ignorant for an intelligent man. But that's okay a little research will enlighten you.

[@diggysoze2897]

@@jeffv2074 that’s because he’s talking about things that exist in real life and not how you feel. Nobody cares how you feel, it holds no bearing on reality. Your gods are fake, your chakras are fake, your demons are fake. It is a waste of all of everyone’s time to speak on the subject

[@IronicHavoc]

@@jeffv2074 I won't say Chakras definitively don't exist, but you should at least respect it's not the same realm of hard science that this video covers - i.e. directly quantifiable materials physics. At best it's a "softer" or more holistic science closer to the realms of medicine or neurology/psychology. And even within that realm the notion of Chakras is not super well supported in any sort of large scale, peer reviewed, replicable study (that I know of). Which again, doesn't mean it's wrong necessarily, but it's entirely understandable why some people would have doubts about it. At the very least wouldn't be as condescending towards skeptics as you're being. You might be surprised to learn there's a lot of very intelligent people who don't believe in Chakras. Granted I also know plenty of intelligent people who *do* believe in chakras and various other spiritual/semi-spiritual concepts. But even among the latter group I've met, I don't think any ever claimed that there's convincing concrete research behind it at the moment.

[@ZanderHulme]

Audio nerds: "be careful when wiring your piezo pickup, they're quite delicate" Steve Mould, literally banging it with a hammer: "IT'S NOT A VERY GOOD MICROPHONE"

[@exgi76gmailcom]

Wow just like all the guys we’ve had over to da White House ……

[@opinionguy7615]

I have the literal 2nd reply to a 600 likes comment ,how? What a coincidence

[@magnopere]

@@yokohamamike1041 barbaque

[@newfreenayshaun6651]

@@yokohamamike1041 dh

[@notavoicechanger1808]

@@opinionguy7615 Because this comment was posted 2 years after the initial video lol.

[@ghguyrur7]

If you rub two quarts together it produces a really cool lighting effect, that jumps through the insides of the stones. Very very cool, I use it when camping to make my friends think I’m a wizard

[@SongOfSongsOneTwelve]

😂

[@the_peefster]

Two quarts of what

[@mikaylastrube]

You're a wizard harry

[@issacmilleson476]

​@@the_peefsterany quarts its called cold light it is light but no heat

[@the_peefster]

@@issacmilleson476 i once again ask quarts of what? Quarts are a form of measurement, quartz is a crystal ;)

[@uvbe]

This is amazing, I had no idea that's how those lighters worked.

[@TheR971]

I always assumed they worked like normal lighters! It's amazing that they actually use this (kind of, but not really) high tech!

[@manuelleon3776]

I always thought they had a battery and the click was from a terminal that initiated contact and sprung off as the gas ignited.

[@manuelleon3776]

@@TheR971 just goes to show how many different ways one can make a single idea.

[@zerotoeverything4348]

i thought it just metal + another metal or rock. didnt know its a crystal actually

[@FirstLast-cc6cv]

I thought it worked like an electron(?) scraper or van de graff generator,

[@heraclitus6100]

Mom - "what did you learn today?" Me - "Steve Mould likes peanut butter."

[@schadenfreudebuddha]

and has three hands

[@MohamedAhmed-zi1ru]

@@schadenfreudebuddha here 2:58

[@SteveMould]

I had to eat so much peanut butter for this video. No regrets.

[@heraclitus6100]

@@SteveMould Peanut butter is the best. I like the natural kind. Except for when you first buy it and have to wear out your arm stirring it. That part sucks.

[@RFC3514]

> and has three hands That one is not a finger.

[@facelessgreen8997]

That sensor microphone is what my random teammates in Overwatch usually use

[@DirtyPoul]

I need a new microphone. Where do I buy this?

[@carry2go596]

Wait u get mic users on Overwatch ??

[@HonkyMonky]

@@DirtyPoul just buy an electric lighter and plug it to your microphone entry ;) the lighter becomes a mic, TA DA!!!

[@chrisengland5523]

Steve covers an amazing range of topics - chemistry, electronics, physics, crystallography and more. Probably one of the best channels on KZbin.

[@Confuseddave]

Silicon dioxide clears my chakras? That must be why sandy beaches are so relaxing.

[@777anarchist]

Bottled beer > canned

[@dvorak2676]

@@777anarchist I get the joke, but canned is cheap as sand compared to bottled

[@777anarchist]

@@dvorak2676 Do not disregard the chakras ;)

[@patricioansaldi8021]

Yes

[@magnuspeacock5857]

@@koseq7 that isn't a truth in the lie, it's a coincidence.

[@mitchkovacs1396]

Steve how many hands do you have

[@Matiasss200]

Thats not his hand ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@SniperSpy10]

@@Matiasss200 this could be read in a few ways

[@Chriva]

@@SniperSpy10 He meant the wiener. Deal with it lol

[@SniperSpy10]

@@Chriva *Slow Clap*

[@Nilguiri]

haha

[@andyfrey6644]

"Orally, or..." Priceless reaction. Your videos are fantastic.

[@ba-it3xz]

If you didn’t make a comment like this, I would have.

[@julianebug8409]

This is exactly what he said to make me wanna go to the comments lmao

[@blue_pomeranian]

Well the first Chakra is the root/earth chakra located at... *cough*... the "base of the spine". It would make sense to apply a healing crystal there

[@julianebug8409]

jessica lmfao

[@sk33m-qe3ym]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2rGhX2bm5masKc

[@OfficialBurrow]

My electric drum pads have a piezoelectric disc inside of them. That's cool I've always wondered how that worked.

[@soulslip]

Interesting

[@Roosauec]

>strike crystals >Get electricity >Redstone IRL

[@PsychedRenegadeGaming]

One of the many reasons I loved minecraft. Lil details.

[@chineseboxingstylekanye7147]

when you flip a lightswitch its just a series of crystals being bopped by spinning gears, self powering itself and the lightbulb

[@wchurchill419]

@@chineseboxingstylekanye7147 lol no....thats not whats happening

[@mmthegreat087]

@@wchurchill419 no duh,that's how it works

[@wchurchill419]

@@mmthegreat087 please go on, enlighten us.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

1:56 "I don't know if you take it orally or..." That's the hardest I've laughed in a long time X'D

[@lgab]

"I don't know if you take it auraly", rather :)

[@Pumbear]

All i know is that that crystal was shaped for purpose

[@majarimennamazerinth5753]

or... well, it's the best thing to do with alternative medicine

[@bhogarsishyan5769]

You laugh as you think he was correct!

[@gergodenes6360]

​@@bhogarsishyan5769 Fooling manipulable people is not funny, we are not laughing. The fact that people buy these is seriously concerning, as it is not "alternative medicine", it's just a placebo, and for a high price. Accepting the existance of things like chakras without any sort of evidence for them is very childish, same with other dogma. Scepticism is the thing that makes the scientific method the best way to obtain truth about our surroundings: constantly checking if you are wrong, not if you are right. Once you realize that "alternative medicine" (like crystal-healing and homeopathy, etc.) is not medicine, simply a psychology trick to take your money, you might actually start learning that the world is not so simple. It's also good to eradicate your biases, for that I'd recommend yourbias.is , for not commiting logical fallacies, I'd recommend yourlogicalfallacyis.com Self-education is only possible with a good knowledge of debate.

[@fancypants_magoo]

"It's not a great speaker, but IT IS a speaker". I don't know exactly why but this line is funny af

[@exyoff]

"it's not a great microphone, but IT IS a microphone" is also funny lol

[@fancypants_magoo]

@@exyoff hells yeah it is!

[@BlabbyGabby13]

Comedy 🤣❤️

[@uninspired3583]

Bobcat Goldthwait also isn't a great speaker, but he is a speaker

[@gavincurtis]

Tell that to all the crappy boomboxes and garbage stereos of the 90's.

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

1:57 fun fact: when you take a rock with lots quartz in it (say, a large chunk of quartz) and rub it against another rock (it's best with another large chuck of quartz), the quartz will make a dust (that is *hazardous to breathe in* ). Those tiny flakes break in such a way that rubbing them will create light. 👍

[@DeactivatedAlmonds]

how much should i huff to make the voices stop

[@darshan5044]

@@DeactivatedAlmonds asking the real questions here

[@Systomd]

Is it the same effect when you beak a piece of sugar in the dark it make sparks? (blue sparks that let me think it's electricity)

[@MrAcapela]

@@DeactivatedAlmonds stops drinkin druggzz , real science talked here

[@ivoryas1696]

@evilpandakillabzomattkpcci4879 Username... _doesn't_ check out?

[@Antonis.Papageorgiou]

Interesting fact: "Piezo" is a greek word ( Πιέζω ) meaning "I compress"

[@RFC3514]

Which, in narrative terms, is approximately the opposite of "I digress".

[@heyandy889]

Quartz protec quartz attac but most importantly quartz piezoelectric

[@evanc.1591]

Which is funny, because “electric” is also from Greek - electros, meaning amber, since static electricity was first observed by rubbing silk and amber. So, it means “I compress amber”

[@BGroothedde]

@@evanc.1591 awesome

[@mitaskeledzija6269]

@Dr. M. H. dam

[@ymcoolface1360]

"Its not a great microphone but it is a microphone" Sounds like " good morning ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking " lol

[@Tyranitar66501]

lol so true

[@brandonanthony9488]

What's wrong with the audio. Nothing

[@nazfx2648]

Brandon Anthony its just very static

[@patrlim]

Electroboom: *interesting*

[@damiensadventure]

My friend... I'm 34 and I've tried to mentally visualize how this stuff works, and I've watched many videos in my time on KZbin, but you nailed it. This is amazing! I am gonna watch more of your vids and subscribe!

[@YEdwardP]

I'm a biologist, but our confocal microscopes also make use of the piezoelectric effect. To adjust the focus, there are of course mechanical gears that adjust the position of the objective relative to the sample with exquisite precision. But for some application where both speed and even higher precision are needed, microscopes can be outfitted with a piezoelectric focusing system. The range of motion is smaller, but the objective can be moved tiny amounts with a precision down to 10s of nanometres within microseconds. This is especially useful for certain modes the microscopes can use, such as resonance scanning mode, which allow us to capture images at very high speed in the xy plane. The piezoelectric focus adjuster gives us a matching fast way to adjust the z-plane. I don't know which specific materials they use, but the principle is the same. By applying a specific voltage, the crystals deform in length and can be used to position the objective.

[@MAN-bm6um]

U reminded me of my high school teacher who would go extents, to make students understand the beauty of science in everyday things. Loved it man. Excellent work.😊

[@Gasinduced]

Captivating and inspiring an audience is a rare ability

[@sc0tte1-416]

These types of teachers are the only ones I really learned anything from, because I could relate to every day life, this stayed interested.

[@JohnSmith-yy8hn]

It's good to see that you don't try and impress your audience by speak too quickly like most KZbinrs. Your teaching is very good because of this. You take the time to explain things in detail. It's about time a KZbinr had the sense to know that an audience learns better when a teacher explains things at a slower rate than other KZbinrs priding themselves at how quickly they can speak.

[@rohithr5730]

ur very lucky to have teacher like that

[@StarOnCheek]

This video: Audiophile companies: this is not a great speaker, but it is a very expensive crystal speaker

[@PLAYERSLAYER_22]

Herman Grove yeah because quartz is expensive

[@mk_rexx]

Piezoelectric pickups are usually used as contact mics just like in acoustic guitars.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

For when you want that perfectly staticky sound.

[@TartarusHimself]

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 he was hitting it with a hammer, what do you expect

[@freestyleskyline]

So you're saying it wasn't "crystal clear? LMAO

[@ThePandaSenpai]

The 68 dislikes in this video are possibly from crystals exhausted of being hammered over and over again.

[@Cliff86]

Nah they're from people who thought the quartz crystal was a suppository

[@zhg4485]

I disliked. The quartz was obviously a paid actor. FAKE

[@leocurious9919]

Or... maybe... because he uses a fake thumbnail and doesnt shows anything happening with that large crystal...?

[@General12th]

@@leocurious9919 Is that why you disliked the video?

[@Dash45677]

Guessing crystal is a hooker.

[@dylanharris1601]

In the absence of referencing a textbook for confirmation, I thought this was a very succinct explanation that would be a great starting point for anyone interested in this effect. Thanks for the great work, Steve! Keep it up 👍🏻

[@edfire5777]

Combine red and yellow to make green. *THAT'S ILLEGAL*

[@ItsMe-fd4pe]

That is science

[@ihatealgebra2431]

Tell that to the cop

[@PrinceJes]

@@ItsMe-fd4pe Science does not exist

[@shayanmoosavi9139]

@@PrinceJes you do not exist.

[@ItsMe-fd4pe]

@@shayanmoosavi9139 F

[@Blalack77]

This is one of the most fascinating concepts in all of science to me. It seems like there could be a lot more hidden potential here.

[@AndrewAce.]

Agreed...

[@codpug]

Like the old tech all around the world with the churches and temples 🛕 that they hide truth from us

[@thought_farm]

Inb4 the great pyramids were giant piezoelectric crystals

[@haywoodjablomi9393]

@@codpug You're lying to yourself and you're lying to the world when you say these things. Nobody is trying to hide history, what would anyone have to gain from that?

[@codpug]

@@haywoodjablomi9393 trust your govt l,take your shot slave .

[@Reth_Hard]

HEY! QUARTZ CRYSTALS DO ALIGN THE CHAKRAS! Of our watches...

[@cedricdegala184]

I see what you did there!

[@a3xccy379]

HAHAHA good memes mate xD

[@yashthatte6137]

chakras => gears? lmao

[@RedStefan]

Literally chacras translates to circles

[@comradepeter87]

In Sanskrit/Hindi, the origin of the word, _chakra_ literally translates to rings/circles.

[@Golfbob]

So basically crystals are magic

[@ErikGarcia07]

basically

[@G-u-z-i-o]

No way, The Karens were right?!

[@maeglin8725]

Magic is just unknown science

[@louwyay]

Protos and Zerg colony😊😊😊

[@JonnyAppleWeed]

​@@G-u-z-i-oonly Gwyneth Paltrow.

[@muskyoxes]

"you can squeeze a diamond as much as you like". Turns out no, I can't.

[@jonathanoxlade4252]

The only way to squeeze a diamond is get a black hole 🕳 lol

[@dat2ra]

He means as much as you like.... but it won't emit a current.

[@OphiuchiChannel]

Send me a diamond, I'll do it 😉

[@LouieAblett]

@@dat2ra yes we all understand that, they're attempting to make a joke *facepalm*

[@brugesscrivener1455]

Your supposed to use an iron pick axe

[@imhocanguro2993]

Fantastic video, as always. Another interesting use of piezoelectric crystals is when you need extreme accuracy in the measurement of distancies (for example in interferometers), by applying a small voltage to the crystal you can shift it's length with a resolution of a fraction of a nanometer (10^-9 meters)!

[@aplavins]

There's a severe lack of pouring things out of beakers in this video.

[@jodinha4225]

Adam Plavinskis Ik I’m really upset 😢😢😢😢

[@LaGuerre19]

that's the comment i was looking for

[@slolerner7349]

But he poured his speaker into his microphone and his microphone into his speaker.

[@error.418]

He's done a lot more than just a viral video...

[@mixerD1-]

🤔🤔👍😂😂😂

[@sk.samiulreza6205]

What an outstanding video! This level of clarity and presentation is very rare. Congratulations and thank you.

[@VinceTibo]

Dude your videos are SO GOOD I knew of the piezoelectric effect and had been explained it, but you do it in such a clear and concise way, it's great to listen to and finally be able to internalize it. Thanks a lot!

[@pixxelwizzard]

Loved this video. It's hard to put my finger on it, but there seems to be a sense of excitement and wonder about scientific discovery that Steve just exudes, and its totally contagious.

[@hackerrekcah9740]

an arm

[@terencefredrick9726]

I never studied the physical/earth sciences in school..did more in biological but wish I had studied both This is fascinating

[@MsCpcheats]

Another common use is in ultrasound machines where the crystal is used as both a speaker and microphone/reciever.

[@Blueknight1960]

Same with drive-through speakers.

[@johnmcclain3887]

Thanks, I've worked in electronics almost sixty years, never pursued this answer, but find it quite logical and reasonable. Thanks, I enjoy your videos.

[@danielhawkins3392]

The presentation of this was amazing. Each idea flowed to the next, very well thought out.

[@ReedHarston]

“I don’t know if you take it aura-ly or...” I’ll see myself out... 😂

[@elizabethsetlow862]

🤣

[@RaeMachiavelli]

Take it aura-ly with a cup of chi...

[@danieldimitri6133]

As The wise professor Farnsworth once said "it's a suppository"

[@chuckymcnubbin1518]

Okay, yeah, that's funny... 😂 😂 😂 😂.

[@TitanTubs]

Up de butt

[@MultiWirth]

No fancy dubstep intro, just starting to tell something. I love you.

[@monkeyrilla]

This video was very well put together and clear, preciate it!

[@picknngrinn]

Amazing explanation! Thank you. Many years ago my 8 year old son asked why two quartz rocks make sparks when you bang then together. I had him forward his question to a CBC radio science program. Their "expert" gave a totally unsatisfying answer. You sir, have satisfied my curiosity! I'll forward the link to this page to him....I'm sure he'll appreciate your explanation.

[@loganstrong5426]

Me at the beginning: "Piezoelectric," sounds like a Piezo pickup. Me at the end when you used it as a microphone: OH THAT'S WHY!

[@natheniel]

Logan Strong Hi I’m an elementary audio guy here, what does a Piezo pick do?

[@loganstrong5426]

@@natheniel it's a pickup for acoustic instruments, like cello or acoustic guitar. Idk exactly how it works, but by the name I'm guessing it's the piezoelectric effect.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

As the vibrations travel through the crystalline structure theres compression and expansion happening, producing an electric voltage. Well, something along those lines anyways.

[@Wander4P]

@@natheniel Also known as contact microphones, they are used to pick up only the sound from the instrument/object they placed in contact with, not picking up surrounding air vibrations like an ordinary microphone, isolating the sound.

[@FirefoxisredExplorerisblueGoog]

The sound waves (aka compression waves) in the instrument's body make its way to the piezo pick-up and consequently compress it, in turn generating an electric signal which is then sent to an amplifier. Piezo pick-ups work better when they have direct contact with a hard surfaces as you might've guessed from this video.

[@natadane9610]

Thank you, you just connected a lot of dots in the knowledge I have

[@SonnetGomes]

This is amazing. I am so fascinated with Quartz. It is mind boggling what this stone is capable of. This is not just a shiny stone! Thank you for making such wonderful and educational videos. I have been hooked to your channel. I will also subscribe to curiosity stream. We need more science channels like these on youtube! Thank you.

[@easygrows2699]

Did you know that Gemstones radiate frequencies that match the frequencies of our body? Lookup Gemstones and Chakras.

[@Digi404_but_stupid]

@@easygrows2699 💀💀

[@legoworks-cg5hk]

​@@easygrows2699I don't think stones make heartbeat sounds

[@HA05GER]

I dont think it is true but it may be possible I guess we use the resonation of quartz to keep time so what's to say other stones done resonate in some way.​@@easygrows2699

[@uarbor70]

Up until recently I thought the spring-loaded mechanism was forcing a magnet through an inductor. I'm amazed at the amount of voltage

[@thedutchonequestioneveryth4128]

How the ancient lifted heavy stuf

[@muraleedharahaspare5782]

IAC i9@@thedutchonequestioneveryth41287iu7u uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuoiiuu8

[@electricpaisy6045]

that might work aswell though and it has a similarity in usecases as it aswell is used in audio equipment.

[@jasonreed7522]

I always assumed lighters just used a flint striker to make the spark that ignites them. I never considered that peizo electricity would be easier/cheaper/better than a basic friction striker.

[@electricpaisy6045]

@@jasonreed7522 the problem is, sparks from a flint aren't electric and can't go through metal

[@Incubansoul]

I swear I learn more stuff from a few hours of KZbin than I did during my entire 4 years in higher education lol

[@vincentcrowely6772]

Just finished a 4 year electrician apprenticeship. I was today years old when I learned how the piezoelectric components I've been working with actually function.

[@revelclef3957]

@@vincentcrowely6772 im starting my apprenticeship next month any advice or experiences you can share much appreciated.

[@Meskalin_]

no

[@IndianaDipper194]

I've been saying this for years

[@vascodegama5829]

6:40 you just explained piezoelectric pickups for guitars! Thank you good sir

[@smirky-shrugs]

Great, another creator I gotta sub to because they make good content *sigh* my crowded dashboard, woe is me. 😉

[@goodun6081]

I remember an old interview with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, talking about having used earthquake sensors, little piezoelectric discs, as guitar pickups.

[@Enrique-peralta]

What is this? Something to record the guitar from inside?

[@goodun6081]

@@Enrique-peralta , since piezoelectric crystal's produce voltage when vibrated, you can stick them inside the body of an acoustic guitar and they will pick up the vibrations of the wood, which is somewhat analogous to the vibrations of the strings. The trick to getting a good sound, of course, would be placement of the piezo pickup, or pickups (plural), and whether you blend it with some kind of internal or external microphone or even a magnetic pickup that senses the string vibration directly. At least one company makes piezo type pickups that go underneath the bridge saddle and have six individual piezo crystals for the contact points of the six strings. I don't know what the favorite pick up systems are now, but back in the 80s and 90s Sunrise and Fishman, and to a lesser extent Barcus-Barry, were the ones that people were mostly using. I believe at least one of these systems had an internal microphone as well as the piezo pickup.

[@kornbread5359]

I thought they worked by em induction, oh i guess multiple types.

[@henrikf8777]

What I don't understand at 4:46 however is why the electricity isn't travelling through the shortest path which would be the green rectangle and not the wire. I guess it is not electronically conductive and the wires are but I'm not sure how that works yet... On to googling more.

[@ziedu6786]

I actually use piezoelectric actuators a lot in my work, but I never pay attention to how it actually works in molecular level until I saw this video. Thank you for the effort!

[@tompatierno5606]

Do you do MRI-compatible neurorobotics? My buddy Greg Cole did his master's thesis designing a piezo actuated brain surgery robot that had less than 1% MRI signal interference. They're loud as anything

[@gigglysamentz2021]

I love the demonstration of "It is not a great one but it is one" XD

[@ZechMadox]

You're one to critique. What have you presented?

[@gigglysamentz2021]

@@ZechMadox Not a critique, it's a compliment on his two demonstrations of speaker and microphone ^^

[@Muonium1]

It will only open your third eye and align your chakra colors with the magical powers of its piezoelectricity if you *INSERT IT R E C T A L L Y* !!! One of the most exotic and nonintuitive uses of the effect is for making electron beam evaporated optical coatings on glass. Little wafers of PZ quartz are located in the vacuum chamber near the glass and the change in resonance frequency of the crystals corresponds exactly to the amount of reflective material that's been deposited thus far. It is exquisitely sensitive, nearly being able to sense the weight of individual atoms and is able to detect coating deposition rates of mere angstroms per minute.

[@azyfloof]

Another Applied Science fan? :D

[@ZER0--]

Peiezoelectric pick ups for guitar is the first thing that sprung to mind. I remember faffing about with a speaker when I was a kid, and realising that it worked as a microphone. I love this guy's videos.

[@cruz1ale]

I didn't know that when you record the word "microphone", and you play it back, it sounds like "speaker". That's pretty meta

[@JC-11111]

Acoustic guitar pickups use them also. By picking up the vibrations of the guitar and turning them into an electrical charge that's played through a speaker as music.

[@tueresdios3453]

where

[@JC-11111]

Wtf. Where's the comment I replied to?

[@wesleyrm]

@@JC-11111 lol

[@OneAffected]

If you record a "fart" and play it back, it sounds like "current modern music" Now that's meta!

[@donniemontoya9300]

The way I was taught about piezoelectric was shown what happens when you chew a wintergreen lifesaver candy in the dark

[@sethnnam190]

@Something Mildly Homophobic chomp a hard wintergreen life saver.and it will spark in your mouth

[@zp10220]

Lmao same

[@idafox2499]

Lmfao!!!

[@Moletrouser]

That's surely _triboluminescence._

[@longerino]

@@Moletrouser internet ftw

[@Nijonibi]

for the quartz crystal to have a healing effect and align your chakras, it needs to be taken as a suppository.

[@OneAffected]

I know! And Often...

[@kafir33312]

bro...

[@dynamicworlds1]

If it's not working, you probably put it the wrong way in.

[@Nijonibi]

@@dynamicworlds1 Yeah like a USB sometimes you have to try it 2 or 3 times

[@RichardKCollins]

Thanks! This is clear and helpful. Perhaps you can find some places on the Internet where they do know the angles, and they do know the equations, and they do know the charges and voltages as a function of pressure. And put them into your description. When you have millions of viewers, you have a greater responsibility to find and share real data, models and methods. Not just words and pictures of explanations. Give people tools to make and use things precisely, not just words about ideas. Thanks. Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation

[@MuckySkunk]

Toy story.... Buzz light-year "I need to finish repairing my ship, do you guys use fossil fuels or have you discovered crystallic fusion yet?

[@johndripper]

I use garbage sir😋😙😎😏

[@TKO593]

alex redelman My ship runs on concentrated dark matter. Two parts Plutonic Quarks, one part Cesium, and a bottle of water. Wubba lubba dub dub!

[@shayanmoosavi9139]

@@TKO593 LOL that wasn't concentrated dark matter. It was a fake recipe to blow those aliens up😂😂😂

[@TKO593]

shayan moosavi Yeah. Cesium should of been a dead giveaway, but tell that to Samsung and hover board manufactures.

[@chineseboxingstylekanye7147]

our scientists make *really* nice phones

[@bongobongo3661]

I don't know why I came here, but I'm glad I learned something new. Thank you.

[@keeper0523]

Excellent clarification. I love shining a 580 lumens flashlight through the bottom of my tower white quartz crystal. It’s so bright. People love it.

[@ToriKo_]

Yew Tube Yoda how big is it

[@eitanoidos6304]

try shining UV at a ruby

[@keeper0523]

Tori Ko 6 inches tall and about 2.5 inches wide. Sorry I’m a dumb American and know nothing about the metric system that the entire world uses but us. Forgive me.

[@maintoc]

@@keeper0523 That equals approximately 15cm x 5cm.

[@piteoswaldo]

@@keeper0523 So, it's a quartz dildo? Now I understand why people love it, a shiny dildo.

[@marshallhomi5988]

I was expecting someone to hit a crystal, not look like they just got done with an acid trip.

[@lahcenedaif7953]

A good content as i expected, sir thanks for this informative video

[@willdarling1]

It's not a great content, but it is a content.

[@ΕπαμεινώνδαςΜαντάς]

A moment of silence when he said "it's also a healing crystal"

[@colonelsanders9637]

He’s got amazing comedic timing

[@FortunaZKat]

It is, but only when used as a suppository pounded in with a hammer.

[@KaityKat117]

"I don't know if you take it orally or...." i fukken died

[@davidvondoom2853]

Strangely enough, I'm guessing people got a slight shock or tingle, when striking a crystal, and so thought there was some kind of ''magic'' energy inside them. That's probably how they first started being used as ''healing crystals''. Turns out that magical energy was just electricity. 😏

[@humanointerdimensional8300]

@@KaityKat117 that is what happens when you are IGNORANT on something, LOL. quartz are used in almost EVERYTHING. it has ENERGYm yes, so if science does NOT KNOWS how to study its effect in AURA, or chakra or human energy field or CHI, then it means THAT science is limited and archaic, since many countries MEDICINE and SCIENCE uses CHAKRAS and CHI to help the body heal faster...... but seems here we have 5 ignorant human lemmings, so sad..... science, sometimes its just science..... and science DOES NOT explains everything...... so sad...... some people seem they are like a religious science organization, very limited mind.

[@milzamk.basith4399]

"Pizzaelectric effect" *that's how it's pronounced in Italy

[@filipponegrini4528]

Top!!!

[@erikschiegg68]

Always at leat three different pies for the pie zoo electric effect!

[@swagswap]

I wish I could give that comment a thousand more likes

[@martyrmessiah3903]

From "PISO"....who invented the susej pizza.

[@egzookly3549]

Underrated 😂

[@3dpprofessor]

Can you make a similar video to this, but for thermistor? They're used in 3D printers all the time, and I understand what they are, but I have no idea how they work. If you don't know what a thermistor is, let me whet your appetite. When things head up or cool they expand or contract, right? And different materials expand or contract at different rates. So what happens is you take two different metals and put them next to each other, or even better, weld them, then heat or cool them? Well, one expands and contracts at one rate, and the other expands and contracts at a different rate, and it may curl, just a little bit? Even more interesting than that, there is a change of resistance across the connection. If you put a current across the metals, and measure the current drop on the outward side, you can use that to determine the temperature. I know, right? It blows my mind, too. But these are used all over the place and what's going on makes no sense to me.

[@kikivoorburg]

Those jokes about the "healing crystal" were hilarious. Keep it up!

[@So1othurn]

The human body has what is called the human bio-energy field that is electrical based which quartz crystals and their piezoelectricity can be used to beneficial affects if used correctly with it. There have been a lot of "new agers" who were sensitive to its affects, but never really understood why.

[@sullum3958]

So1othurn facts

[@observer6892]

@@So1othurn you sound so drunk lol, spiritualism is a joke

[@So1othurn]

@@observer6892 You sound drunk. Who said anything about "spiritualism?"

[@observer6892]

@@So1othurn lol it doesn't matter where what you said specifically belongs its still bullshit, it isn't science and you most likely couldn't demonstrate any real results in reality fool

[@alekswanson7309]

A crystal, is a microphone.. and a speaker.. my mind has been blown, how is this possible, it's a crystal xd this is so fascinating

[@k-rodkev-dog7449]

It's also a clock

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

My favorite example is the record player stylus, this shows just how amazingly accurate the pressure to electricity actually is. I can hear every note of the entire band of led zeppelin or every subtly of Benny Goodman king of swing.

[@sed6]

Yeah except a phonograph doesn't require electricity!

[@scottwiggins]

@@sed6 Thank you for that new fact friend!

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

@@sed6 right a photograph is a non electric device that just has a metal stylus that vibrates a diaphragm that the shape of the horn amplifies acoustically like a horn.

[@coladict]

I had a quartz watch that was off by a minute per month. Every month it was faster by a minute. Guess they didn't get the crystal right in that one, and it still passed their limited in-the-assembly-line QC test.

[@mpoisot]

Is there a second voltage spike (in the opposite direction) when the crystal goes back to its initial configuration?

[@miguelrivas4649]

I guess it must be, because it seems that electrons can't travel easily through the crystal. If they could they would just do it the first time. I think this is a really interesting question though

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

Any charge that flowed as a result of compressing the crystal will have to flow back when you release it. You can actually find spark lighters that use a different mechanism: instead of a springloaded hammer, you simply compress the piezo crystal via a lever. These will produce multiple sparks as you compress the lever, and just as many sparks as you release the lever. (Though I'm not sure whether a second _voltage_ spike will occur in the more common hammer-strike style devices. It seems conceivable that the air might still ionized, in which case the charge can flow back without much resistance hence no significant voltage is produced, just a current spike. It'll depend on how briefly the hammer-strike applies force and how long it takes for the ionized air to recombine after a spark, and I have no clue about either of those.)

[@nonpopscience3291]

there isn't. no charge leaves the crystal, the voltage is simply propotional to how hard you squeeze it

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

@@nonpopscience3291 Without charge movement, you would not have a spark

[@elams1894]

@@MatthijsvanDuin What is charge? If the answer is an electron, what is an electron?

[@londonpunk]

Step 1: find a crystal that is into BDSM Step 2: hit crystal as many as you like Step 3:???? Step 4: unlimited electricity

[@erikhendrych190]

Don't tell the European Commission or we will be using piezoelectric nails in 2022.

[@jdf7149]

Step 3: Store the electricity Step 3.5: Use the stored electricity to an electric hammer that uses only a tiny bit of electricity to hammer the crystals (Impossible?) Step 4: Unlimited Electricity

[@TitanTubs]

@@jdf7149 use water wheel to raise hammer from river.

[@BallisticDamage]

There is no such thing like free or infinite energy,especially with pezio electric because voltage is very low

[@jdf7149]

@@BallisticDamage ah I see, thanks for clearing that up

[@MauricioBarragan]

I used to shock my brother with those electricity generators inside lighters 😂

[@darkshaman7087]

Use the starters out of the calor gas fires as much more powerful

[@I_SEE_RED]

@@darkshaman7087 I use jumper cables and a car battery

[@darkshaman7087]

@@I_SEE_REDhaha that will do the trick, I remember my cousin when we was younger his brother took a cassette player apart and his bro came along plugged it in to the mains as he still had it in his hands taking it apart and he had the best shock of his life 🤣

[@AllanLovezGaming]

I remember I used to use defibrillator my brother to shock each other. Great fun! 👍

[@jm2340]

MR.MOULD, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW NUCH I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS AND HOW MUCH YOU'VE TAUGHT ME AND KEEP EXCITED ABOUT THESE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA. I'm a dentist and we studied about the piezoelectric theory in orthodontics (braces work). Yes piezoelectric happens in your body too, but i never quite understood what it really was. There are a lot of stuff we study and just get over it not actually quite going into the depth of each phenomena (for understandable reasons) and i wpuld stop and think about them. Somehow too often i end up finding a video of yours explaining the phenomena and satisfying my curiosity. So thank you Mr. Mould. I've a deep passion for learning. Alhamdulilah.

[@flymachine]

You put so much work into each video, don’t let anyone tell you eating peanut butter isn’t work. I learned about lattice structures and piezoelectric crystals on Star Trek.

[@DJMatGE]

daaaamn notification is so on! I WANNA SEE THAT QUARTZ vibrating video :D your videos are just amazing! Love it!

[@BulLiT2401]

That was amazing. I demand more free content!

[@mfThump]

why not monetarily persuade him into increasing his net output?

[@JohnS-er7jh]

this is a great video. Thank you for explaining why the butane long neck lighters are difficult to light (but you left out another main reason, they make them child proof now, lighters weren't that hard to light years ago, they didn't have the extra safety button you have to hold, so that factors into it). I bought a piezo electric long neck lighter about 5 years ago (primarily to light candles in glass candle holders where a smaller lighter won't reach), it works great, never have an issue lighting candles. Before having the piezo lighter, I used to go through many butane lighters, they would stop working quickly (even after refilling with butane).

[@benayers8622]

100% i often remove the extra safety spring or try use a rly old lighter it annoys me i have to consider safety! Theres no kids getting it how about teaching parenting rather than making laws about safety lighters that then inconvenience me for a kid who dont exists safety! I hate the after 2000s world so much lol!

[@fireandcopper]

Spent years taking apart lighters to find out what magic is inside of them click lighters, the voltage is enough to ya a fair shock

[@diamondflaw]

Yeah, for good fun, get a "fancy" metal bodied butane lighter and re-wire it for one end of the piezoelectric to the button and the other to the case.

[@SteveMould]

I learned that the hard way while making this video.

[@miguelrivas4649]

@@SteveMould we used to wire a lot of them together at highschool to give shocks to other kids. If I remember well we did like 20 together

[@MelodeonTunes]

@@SteveMould At least you did not operate the device with your mouth (AEOUD rules)

[@allouttagum4919]

Do it on your wrist and yer fingers jump lol

[@Yosh1kame]

No crystal was harmed in the making of this

[@SHIVFOUNDATION]

:)

[@gokuljagannath]

But they were hammered....lol

[@lordsolrak1713]

@@gokuljagannath shhh , they liked it . They are pro BDSM , and they didnt mention the safe word . So its okay

[@SirNobleIZH]

Fun fact: the granite in the great pyramids has a high quartz concentration, and the chambers that used to hold the check and clack valves could create large vibrations in the pyramid, like Steve did with the hammer on the disk. You send a large amount of water through those passages, and you have a power plant

[@jadabaudelaire118]

I'd LOVE to see them demonstrate this nowadays!

[@sharonjohnson8516]

Yes th vibration during the djed ceremony at the pyramids caused light.

[@SirNobleIZH]

@@jadabaudelaire118 it would be so cool if egypt turned them back on today

[@MattH-wg7ou]

How does water running through it create power? Sounds really interesting.

[@jadabaudelaire118]

@@MattH-wg7ou through the creation of vibration in the chambers, via water flow, causing a piezo electric current of the quartz of the granite... seems to be the reference. Might be a fun weekend research project.. to see how viable this would be

[@someguyonhisphone3]

What I'd like to see is the construction of the Piezoelectric itself. How does someone connect wires directly to a quartz crystal if no manufacturing tools are available? Now that's difficult to make a secure connection!

[@EvanAndHell]

The Great Pyramid of Giza brought me here.

[@DistinctMale]

Mee tooo.

[@isaireyes2273]

But… how?

[@christophermichaelson9050]

Me too

[@WeiLeenNg]

Did you strike the top of the pyramid with a spring-loaded hammer?

[@ruanjansevanrensburg3330]

Joe rogan or billy carson

[@francisspacehead6587]

I don’t know how you are really able to do it, but every video I watch of yours i can totally understand what you are explaining! :0

[@GammaStyleGaming]

Found this randomly. Being a "science guy" im always interested in this type of stuff. Now i finally understand piezoelectricity. Good balance between information density and approachability. (for lack of a better word) Subbed!

[@aaronjohnson2215]

Whoever designed universe and physics, made amazing job!

[@garetclaborn]

Love this, takes me back to my days with the old toy crystal radio

[@Slay_No_More]

Crystal radio?

[@garetclaborn]

@@Slay_No_More Oh yea; you can find an article about them on wikipedia. Basically you take a coil of wire, a capacitor, a crystal detector, and earphones to make a simple radio. Moving the contact to different spots on the coil lets you receive different radio frequencies. Some companies sell little science project kits of them

[@aidenquinn3337]

Very cool to see material science getting some love! Piezoelectricity and similar concepts that are driven by spontaneous polarization play an important role in a lot of things we use everyday!

[@transkryption]

This is also a part of why load bearing exercise is important for bone density Ie calcium resorption!

[@laurastabell2489]

WNT enzyme cascade is stimulated by jumping. Dancing is part of our DNA. Tomato family plants and rice also stimulate WNT. Ankilosing spondylitis and arthritis is overstimulated WNT enzyme cascade causing excessive growth between the joints causing stiffness or bone spurs. Its a Laplander gene. Alcohol and certain herbs decrease WNT. Fetal Alcohol syndrome is lack of WNT while certain cancers are stimulated to grow by WNT enzymes. Its interesting in being a chemical and physical switch. I traced the cascade from endvto end in about a day of research writing it down as I went and was so excited I took a picture. Googled some more and found the Novel Peace Prize had been awarded to the guy who got there first! ( which is why I was able to follow it through no doubt!) Still a fun day! Ill have to read up on the piezoelectric mechanism involved!

[@Vector_Ze]

I appreciate the clarity of your videos. If only canceling my Curiosity Stream subscription were so simple, life would be grand.

[@purpleboye_]

Scientists found out how to turn stress into electricity. Me: =*0*=

[@mfThump]

_but, but.. but isnt every action, muscle or thought already just a result of electrical impulse(s)?_

[@houssemehsn]

*electricity intensifies*

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

@@mfThump that's with the side effect of gray hair

[@pierrechevaliergeol]

Your brain can be considered as an electrical powerhouse, given its amount of connections, wiring and power consumption. Well, in fact, no, not a powerhouse; but rather something electrical, big, and complex. And stress surely increases brain activity.

[@L3X369]

The energy generation aspect of piezoelectricity is way underrated. Especially when thinking at large scale.

[@zackcinq-mars2129]

The energy to hit the crystal will be more than the electricity it can produce. Would be interesting to see how efficiently it converts to energy though. Could be more efficient than some other forms of transferring motion into energy.

[@jackson-aka2gs749]

Dear Steve Mould, this is an absolutely great video. Thank you for sharing that knowledge in such an efficient and easily conceivable way.

[@robertfoertsch]

Excellent Analysis, Deployed Worldwide Through My Deep Learning AI Research Library… Thank You

[@trigger7ff6]

the timing on that "oral/???" joke was perfect.

[@davekrochenski]

Fantastic work Steve. Just awesome.

[@MudraptorGaming]

*points to 3 things with 3 separate hands*

[@wesleyl9895]

I was a sonar technician in the Navy and we used "transducers" to transmit as well as receive sound. They operated on the piezoelectric effect. You put electricity in vibration and sound comes out vice versa. Sonar stands for sound navigation and ranging. The reason his piezoelectric pickup, typically used to turn acoustic guitar string vibrations into electric/acoustics, does not make a good microphone is that air is a poor acoustic energy transmission medium. You get power and information loss. Could ramble on for hours.

[@wesleyl9895]

@tst ccnt not sure what Sonar and piezioelectricity has to do with water planets creating life. Piezoelectric effect is very important in creating sound which bounces around and is received back and processed by computers to find objects in water as well as mapping the environment. Bats use sonar in the air with high frequency sounds to navigate and locate prey.

[@markfrellips5633]

This is an example of why I like British humor. Informative, witty, and just the right about of snark

[@corlfranco9371]

to some its just offensivelly ignorant

[@LZ2SM]

And the right amount of proper English xD

[@aido179]

Enjoyed this video! I have some questions. What happens if you continue to compress it forever? Can it "run out"? I assume that after the crystal initially deforms, the current equalizes and then it "reforms" and an equal and opposite current flows back? If this is true, is it observable? (paging slowmoguys or smartereveryday...) Second, assuming it doesn't "run out", and it's converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy, can this (is this?) used as a generator?

[@lotsagrapes]

don't break your crystal! :P you can Make piezos at home in a double boiler with cream of tartar + borax check out laser sabers concrete batteries, I think he cooks them with similar ingredients but also a core piece of metal, I'm guessing the heat is where a lot of the battery's juice comes from. There's a few videos that show getting power from speakers, You can hook an LED up to a small speaker and tap the speaker quickly to get the led to flash briefly to prove to yourself it works, same thing with little dc motors and lights/ or to c heck if a small speaker works you can put the motor + / - to the speaker and twist it, it makes a gravelly noise lol. with power systems it always seems about making it convenient to store / convert the power lol. search "gravity battery" there are two cool results that pop up, one from Destin on smarter every day (paging mr opal boi ) and the other is a grandfather clock mechanicsm hooked to a gallon of water that plays a record on an old school turn table lol.

[@superdau]

It doesn't run out, because you don't push electrons out of the crystal (they are fixed to their atoms). And yes the same happens in the opposite direction. Also yes, it is used as a small generator, mostly in something called for "energy harvesting" (meaning you get energy from something that is bending/pushed/vibrating). The ideas are more of a concept though because the power produced is so low that it's barely useful. But in a sense it is already a generator producing a spark.

[@DavidKennyNZL]

Yes putting a fluctuating force on the crystal generates a fluctuating voltage proportional to the force for small values.

[@swimfan186000]

You can only compresses it so much before it cracks... But if you're asking how reusable it is, piezoelectric crystals are subject to fatigue just like everything else. If you push it too hard for too long, it will eventually crack.

[@michaelkenner3289]

Piezo electricity is used as a generator although it's not super common yet. There have been ideas like putting pressure plates in stadiums and subway stations where all the energy from people walking over it could be captured and used to power the building. I think a few prototypes have been built but it's not a common technology yet.

[@greghowman5328]

liked. subbed. when you said the video was already getting too long, I was like, what? no, it's not! more! more!! 😉 I could listen to your explanations all day. in fact, I'm going to watch the rest of your channel & literally do just that. lol.

[@omerkaya545]

Does it mean that the quarz won't decompress anymore or would require an voltage to "bend it back" ?