- piezoelectricity
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/puy ee'zoh i lek tris"i tee, -ee'lek-, pee ay'zoh-/, n.electricity, or electric polarity, produced by the piezoelectric effect.[1890-95; < Gk piéz(ein) to press + -o- + ELECTRICITY]
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Appearance of an electric field in certain nonconducting crystals as a result of the application of mechanical pressure.Pressure polarizes some crystals, such as quartz, by slightly separating the centers of positive and negative charge. The resultant electric field is detectable as a voltage. The converse effect also occurs: an applied electric field produces mechanical deformation in the crystal. Using this effect, a high-frequency alternating electric current (see alternating current) can be converted to an ultrasonic wave of the same frequency, while a mechanical vibration, such as sound, can be converted into a corresponding electrical signal. Piezoelectricity is utilized in microphones, phonograph pickups, and telephone communications systems.* * *
▪ physicsappearance of positive electric charge on one side of certain nonconducting crystals and negative charge on the opposite side when the crystals are subjected to mechanical pressure. This effect is exploited in a variety of practical devices such as microphones (microphone), phonograph pickups (phonograph), and wave filters in telephone-communications systems.Piezoelectricity was discovered in 1880 by Pierre (Curie, Pierre) and Paul-Jacques Curie, who found that when they compressed certain types of crystals including quartz, tourmaline, and Rochelle salt, along certain axes, a voltage was produced on the surface of the crystal. The next year, they observed the converse effect, the elongation of such crystals upon the application of an electric current.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
