PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT AND ITS APPLICATIONS




CURRENT STUDIES AND APPLICATIONS

Current electronic devices which are based on piezoelectric properties, according to
Ballato (1996), have expanded in their application beyond that of crystal oscillators.
Such piezoelectric devices are being used as transducers in telephone speakers and
sonar arrays as well as mechanical actuation and sensing microstructures on electronic
micro-chips. These MEMS devices can provide signal sensing, processing, and output
functions that were unattainable by electronic or photonic methods alone.

Objectives:

1. Recognize that crystal structures contain positively and negatively charged
particles.
2. Understand the practical application of piezoelectric phenomenon.
3. Explain the conservation of energy as it relates to piezoelectric crystals.
4. Recognize that materials science encompasses all branches of branches of science,
including biology,chemistry, physics and technology.
5. Describe how to connect and use a piezoelectric strip in a working model.

Connections to the Community:

At present, piezoelectric strips are widely used in computers, industry, instrumentation,
medicine, automotive, consumer products and military/government. Professionals in
any of these fields might be possible resources for a classroom guest speaker. Field
trips could also be set up to see how this technology is being applied in your
community. See Appendix A entitled "Applications of Piezo Film", provided by AMP
Incorporated.

Connections to High School Chemistry:
The introduction of "piezoelectric responses" using crystal lattices can be included at

either of four Chemistry Unit Levels:
Chemical Bonding : This chapter covers underlying principles of bond formation
formation, chemical bonding and its effects on molecular structure and properties.
Ionic and Covalent bonding is presented in detail and concludes with a discussion on
metallic properties as explained by metallic bond models.
Molecular Structure : A study of chemical bonds and their geometric arrangements.
Varied approaches help to explain chemical bonding in molecules that go to form
VSEPR model (electron pair repulsion theory) to MO model (molecular bond orbitals).
Chapter introduces structures of organic molecules with single, double, and triple
bonding. Isomeric structures of some organic molecules is also covered.