1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,080 Speaker 1: This episode of brain Stuff is brought to you by 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,519 Speaker 1: Linda dot Com. Linda dot com offers thousands of engaging, 3 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: easy to follow video tutorials taught by industry experts to 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: help you learn software, creative and business skills. Membership starts 5 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: at twenty five a month and provides unlimited seven access. 6 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: Try Linda dot com free for seven days by visiting 7 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: Linda dot com slash brain Stuff. Welcome to brain Stuff 8 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: from how Stuff works dot com where smart Happens. Hi, 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how does the lighter 10 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: in a barbecue grill work? In a barbecue grill, you 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: normally have a push button lighter. You push the button, 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: it makes a clunking sound and a spark appears inside 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: the gas grill. How does that work? A barbecue lighter 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: uses something called piezo electricity to generate a nice spark 15 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: that lights the grill. Piezo in Greek means pressure, and 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: you find piezzo electric materials in a number of different places. 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: For example, all of these products depend on the piezo 18 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,119 Speaker 1: electric effect. The push button lighter and a barbecue grill, 19 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: the pushbutton lighter on a cigarette lighter, piezo electric beepers 20 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: which are common in digital watches and just about anything 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: electronic that goes deep. Piezo electric tweeters and stereo speakers, 22 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: the sound generating a raise for sonar, fish finders and 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 1: ultrasound devices. Crystal microphones, phonograph needles, and the quartz crystals 24 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: used in most digital clocks, watches and timers as the 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: time base. Certain crystaline materials, like courts, rochelle salts, and 26 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: certain ceramics have piezo electric properties. When you apply pressure 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: to them, you get a charge separation within the crystal 28 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: and a voltage across the crystal that is sometimes extremely high. 29 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: For example, in a barbecue lighter, the popping noise you 30 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: hear is a little spring loaded hammer hitting at crystal 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: and generating thousands of volts across the two faces of 32 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: that crystal. A voltage this high is identical to the 33 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: voltage that drives a spark plug in a gasoline engine. 34 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: The crystals voltage can generate a nice spark that lights 35 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: the gas in the grill. In a crystal microphone, air 36 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: pressure deforms the crystal enough to cause very small voltage 37 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: changes in the crystal. These voltage changes are amplified and 38 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: used to record or transmit sounds. Piece of electric materials 39 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: also work the other way. If you apply a voltage 40 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: across the crystal, the crystal will change shape. The change 41 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: in shape is very slight in most cases, but it's 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: enough to drive small speakers. Do you have any ideas 43 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me 44 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: an email at podcast at house stuff works dot com. 45 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, go 46 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: to how stuff works dot com and be sure to 47 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: check out the brain stuff blog on the how stuff 48 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: works dot com home page. 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