How Piezoelectricity Works

There are other crystals that get lumped together as piezoelectric materials. The
structure in these crystals aren’t symmetrical but they still exist in an electrically neutral
balance. However, if you apply mechanical pressure to a piezoelectric crystal, the
structure deforms, atoms get pushed around, and suddenly you have a crystal that can
conduct an electrical current.

Applying mechanical energy to a crystal is called a direct piezoelectric effect and

works like this:

1. A piezoelectric crystal is placed between two metal plates. At this point the
material is in perfect balance and does not conduct an electric current.
2. Mechanical pressure is then applied to the material by the metal plates, which
forces the electric charges within the crystal out of balance. Excess negative and
positive charges appear on opposite sides of the crystal face.
3. The metal plate collects these charges, which can be used to produce a voltage
and send an electrical current through a circuit.

Types of Piezoelectric Materials

There are a variety of piezoelectric materials that can conduct an electric current,
both man-made and natural. The most well-known, and the first piezoelectric
material used in electronic devices is the quartz crystal. Other naturally occurring
piezoelectric materials include cane sugar, Rochelle salt, topaz, tourmaline, and
even bone.

14.2 Thermoelectric effect sensors (thermocouples)

Thermoelectric effect sensors rely on the physical principle that, when any two
different metals are connected together, an e.m.f., which is a function of the
 temperature, is generated at the junction between the metals. The general form of
this relationship is: eDa1TCa2T2 Ca3T3 CÐÐÐCanTn 14.1 where e is the e.m.f.
generated and T is the absolute temperature. This is clearly non-linear, which is
inconvenient for measurement applications. Fortunately, for certain pairs of
materials, the terms involving squared and higher powers of T (a2T2, a3T3 etc.) are
approximately zero and the e.m.f.–temperature relationship is approximately linear
according to: e³a1T14.2 Wires of such pairs of materials are connected together at
one end, and in this form are known as thermocouples. Thermocouples are a very
important class of device as they provide the most commonly used method of
measuring temperatures in industry. Thermocouples are manufactured from various
combinations of the base metals copper and iron, the base-metal alloys of alumel
(Ni/Mn/Al/Si), chromel (Ni/Cr), constantan (Cu/Ni), nicrosil (Ni/Cr/Si) and nisil
(Ni/Si/Mn), the noble metals platinum and tungsten, and the noble-metal alloys of
platinum/rhodium and tungsten/rhenium.

Thermocouples

 Thermocouples are perhaps the most popular, easy to use, and inexpensive
temperature sensors.
 A thermocouple has two electrical conductors made of different metals.
 The two conductors are connected as shown in figure.
 The key requirement is that the connections between the two conductors at
both ends must form a good electrical connection.

The fundamental thermoelectric phenomenon is that there is a voltage differential

developed between the open circuit end of the conductor proportional to the temperature
of the one of the junction relative to the temperature of the other junction.

 The thermoelectric phenomena is a result of the flow of both heat and electricity
over a conductor.
 Thomas See beck and the thermoelectric effect

Suppose you stick an iron bar in a fire. You'll know you have let go of it quite
quickly because heat will be traveling up the metal from the fire to your fingers.
But did you realize that electricity is traveling up the bar as well? The first person
to properly cotton on to this idea was German physicist Thomas See beck (1770–
1831), who found that if two ends of a metal were at different temperatures, an
electric current would flow through it. That's one way of stating what's now known
as the See beck effect or thermoelectric effect. See beck things got more
interesting as he explored further. If he connected the two ends of the metal
together, no current flowed; similarly, no current flowed if the two ends of the
metal were at the same temperature.

Artwork showing how a thermocouple works: Two dissimilar metals joined

together show the See beck effect at work by generating a voltage when their
junctions are at different temperatures.

Artwork: The basic idea of a thermocouple: two dissimilar metals (gray curves) are
joined together at their two ends. If one end of the thermocouple is placed on
something hot (the hot junction) and the other end on something cold (the cold
junction), a voltage (potential difference) develops. You can measure it by placing
a voltmeter (V) across the two junctions.

See beck repeated the experiment with other metals and then tried using two
different metals together. Now if the way electricity or heat flows through a metal
depends on the material's inner structure, you can probably see that two different
metals will produce different amounts of electricity when they're heated to the
same temperature. So what if you take an equal-length strip of two different metals
and join them together at their two ends to make a loop. Next, dip one end (one of
the two junctions) in something hot (like a beaker of boiling water) and the other
 end (the other junction) in something cold. What you find then is that an electric
current flows through the loop (which is effectively an electric circuit) and the size
of that current is directly related to the difference in temperature between the two
junctions.t

The key thing to remember about the See beck effect is that the size of the voltage
or current created depends only on the type of metal (or metals) involved and the
temperature difference. You don't need a junction between different metals to
produce a See beck effect: only a temperature difference. In practice, however,
thermocouples do use metal junctions.

Thermopile

The thermopile is the name given to a temperature-measuring device that consists

of several thermocouples connected together in series, such that all the reference
junctions are at the same cold temperature and all the hot junctions are exposed to
the temperature being measured, as shown in Figure 14.7. The effect of connecting
n thermocouples together in series is to increase the measurement sensitivity by a
factor of n. A typical thermopile manufactured by connecting together 25
chromel–constantan thermocouples gives a measurement resolution of 0.001°C.

Different Types of Sensors

Temperature Sensor Working

The measurement of the temperature sensor is about the hotness or coolness of an object. The working
base of the sensors is the voltage that read across the diode. If the voltage increases, then the
temperature rises and there is a voltage drop between the transistor terminals of base & emitter, they
are recorded by the sensors. If the difference in voltage is amplified, the analogue signal is generated by
the device and it is directly proportional to the temperature.

Working of Temperature Sensor

By using the temperature sensor, the temperature can be measured by four measurement scales and
they are divided into different degree units. The metric Celsius scale is used by the measurement scale
and they start from zero. The Fahrenheit temperature sensing uses the Rankin scales and these scales
are absolute scales. The Rankin scale measures the absolute zero as the 492 degrees Rankin. The
temperature sensor determines the absolute zero measurements as close to the minus 46 degrees
Fahrenheit.

Different Types of Sensors

Thermistor Sensor

The thermistor sensor is a type of sensor. This type of sensors is used mostly in the human
thermometers. If there is a change in the temperature, then the electrical current or resistance also
changes. The thermistor is prepared by using the semiconductor materials with a resistivity which is
especially sensitive to temperature. The resistance of a thermistor decreases with increasing
temperature so that when the temperature changes, the resistance change is predictable.
Thermistor Sensor

The thermistor sensors are different from the resistance temperature detectors in that the first
difference is the metal used in the RTD is pure metal and the second difference is the temperature
response is two. The thermistor sensor is classified into two types and they depend on the sign of K. If
the K is negative, then the resistance decreases with the increasing temperature and the device is called
as the negative temperature coefficient. If the K is positive, then the resistance increases with the
increase in the temperature and the device are called as the positive temperature coefficient.

Temperature Sensors Based on Resistance Thermistor Temperature Sensors

 Thermistor sensors are based on semiconductor materials where the resistance of the sensing
element reduces exponentially with the temperature.

Thermistor Temperature Sensors

 The variation in the resistance of a thermistor for a given temperature change is much larger
than the variation in resistance of a RTD sensor.
 This type of sensor is used for their high sensitivity, high bandwidth, and ruggedness compared
to RTDs. However, the manufacturing variations in thermistors can be large from one sensor to
another.
 Therefore, cannot be used as direct replacement to one another. Each sensor must be properly
calibrated before replacement.

Resistance Temperature Detector

These are the temperature sensors with a resistor that changes the resistive value simultaneously with
temperature changes. The RTDs are used in a wide temperature range from -500C to 5000C for thin film
and for the wire wound variety the range is from the +2000C to 8500C. The thin layer of platinum on a
substrate is present on the thin film RTD element. A new pattern is created which provide the electrical
circuit and it is trimmed to give a specific resistance.
Resistance Temperature Detector

Lead wires are attached and to protect the film & connections the assembly is coated. In comparison,
wire-wound elements are either coils of wire packaged in a ceramic or glass tube, or they can be wound
around a glass or ceramic material. RTDs, which have higher accuracy and repeatability, are slowly
replacing thermocouples in industrial applications below 600 °C.

RTD Temperature Sensors

An RTD (resistance temperature detector) temperature sensor operates on the transduction principle
that the resistance of the RTD material changes with the temperature.

Then the resistance change can be converted to a proportional voltage using a Wheatstone bridge
circuit.

Main advantages of RTD sensors are that the resistance temperature relationship is fairly linear over a
wide temperature range and that the measurement accuracy can be as small as ±0.005°C.

Furthermore, drift of the sensor over time is very small, typically in the range of less than 0.1 0C / year.
As a result, RTDs do not require frequent calibration.

RTD is a passive device. It has a resistance where the resistance changes linearly with temperature.

The sensitivity constants αfor various materials are shown:

Platinum is the most common material used in RTD sensors.

Temperature Sensors Temperature Sensors Based on Resistance RTD Temperature Sensors

In order to measure the change in resistance, the RTD must be supplied by a current source and
measure the voltage across it.

 Good way of doing this is to use the RTD in a Wheatstone bridge circuit.
 The dynamic response of the RTD sensor is relatively slow compared to other temperature
sensors.
 RTDs cannot be used to measure high-frequency transient temperature variations
Thermal Expansion Methods
Thermal expansion methods make use of the fact that the dimensions of all substances, whether
solids, liquids or gases, change with temperature.
Instruments operating on this physical principle include
1. Liquid-in-glass thermometer
2. Bimetallic thermometer
3. Pressure thermometer
A fluid is contained within a bulb and a capillary tube.
 As the temperature rises, the fluid expands along the capillary tube and the meniscus
level is read against a calibrated scale etched on the tube.
 The fluid used is usually either mercury or colored alcohol.
 The temperature range is limited to 650℃.
Advantages
Following are the major advantages associated with the use of liquid-in-glass thermometers:
 They are comparatively cheaper than other temperature measurement devices.
 They are handy and convenient to use.
 Unlike electrical thermometers, they do not necessitate power supply or batteries for
charging.
 They can be frequently applied in areas where there is problem of electricity.
 They provide very good repeatability and their calibration remains unaffected.
Limitations
Use of liquid-in-glass thermometers includes following limitations too:
 They are considered inapt for applications involving extremely high or low temperatures.
 They cannot be applied in regions where highly accurate results are desirable.
 As compared to electrical thermometers, they are very weak and delicate. Therefore, they
must be handled with extra care because they are likely to break.
 Besides, they cannot provide digital and automated results. Hence, their use is limited to
areas where only manual reading is adequate, for example, a household thermometer.
 “Temperature readings should be noted immediately after removal because a glass
thermometer can be affected by the environmental temperature, heat produced by the
hand holding it, cleaning, etc. This temperature should be recorded because a glass
thermometer does not offer a recall of the measured temperature.”
 Reading temperature via liquid-in-glass thermometers call for brilliant eyesight.
 Liquid element contained in a glass thermometer may be perilous or risky to health owing
to their potential chemical spills.
 These thermometers display temperature either in Celsius or Fahrenheit scales. Thus,
temperature conversion would be needed if the temperature reading is wanted in some
other scale.

Types of Liquid in Glass Thermometers

There are two major types of Liquid-in-glass thermometers which are mentioned below:
1. Mercury Thermometers
2. Alcohol Thermometers
Mercury Thermometers
 This type of thermometer was developed by a German based physicist named Daniel
Gabriel Fahrenheit.
 It consists of mercury as a liquid filled in a glass tube. On the body of the glass tube,
calibrated marks are provided which facilitates the reading of temperature.

 A bulb is formed at one end of the thermometer which contains the largest part of mercury.

 The expansion and contraction of this mercury size is then further increased in the extremely
thin bore of the glass tube. It aids in increasing the sensitivity of the thermometer.

 In general, the area over the mercury is filled with inert gases like nitrogen. However, this
area can be left evacuated too.

 Various types of mercury-in-glass thermometers are available. “A maximum thermometer is

a unique kind of mercury thermometer which functions by having a constriction in the neck
close to the bulb.

 The mercury is forced up through the constriction by the force of expansion as the
temperature increases. When there is a decrease in the temperature, the column of mercury
breaks at the constriction and cannot return to the bulb and will remain stationary in the
tube.”

 By means of a maximum thermometer, one can measure the maximum temperature over a
predetermined time span.
 Resetting of the maximum thermometer is a very simple process which just requires the
sharp swinging of the thermometer.

 The freezing point of mercury is – 38.83°C at which it gets solidified. However, it doesn’t
result in expansion upon solidification and hence there will be no danger of glass breakage of
the thermometer tube.

 Whenever there is rise in temperature, the nitrogen gas filled above the mercury in glass tube
usually comes down the column and gets stuck there.

 This whole action may affect the functioning of thermometer. To prevent this difficulty, one
must manages to get mercury thermometers inside when the temperature drops to – 37°C.

Alcohol Thermometers
 Alcohol thermometers are replacing mercury thermometers in many applications.

 They employ alcohol as the filled in liquid in glass tubes. The temperature measurement
range of alcohol thermometers varies from 115°C to 785°C, where former is the freezing
temperature point of alcohol and latter is boiling temperature point of alcohol.
  A typical thermometer for getting environmental temperature readings is required to have
a temperature range of -20°F to 120°F i.e. -30°C to 50°C.

 Alcohol, being a volatile substance may result in parting of the column in the thermometer
due to mechanical shock.

 The column can then be joined again by making the thermometer fall over a wooden
surface enveloped with lots of paper sheets. “Hold the thermometer in a vertical position,
bulb end down, 4 to 6 inches over the wood surface covered with paper, and then drop.

 After the thermometer bulb strikes the paper, catch the thermometer with your other hand
to prevent breakage. Small amounts of alcohol may cling to the portion of the capillary
tube above the alcohol column.”

 High temperature portion of the thermometer can be warmed up beneath an incandescent

lamp which will bring the alcohol down to the column.

 One can also mount the thermometer vertically for overnight which will let the drawing
back of alcohol to the column.

 This thermometer should never be employed with a parted fluid column since it generally
leads to incorrect temperature measurements.

Bimetallic thermometer
 It is based on the fact that if two strips of different metals are joined together, any
temperature change will cause the strip to bend.
 Two different metallic wires are welded together in length to form the bimetallic strip.
 Each metal has a different coefficient of expansion (k), the metal with higher coefficient
of expansion expands more than the metal with lower coefficient of expansion and thus
the strip bends in the direction of metal with less expansion.
 The difference in expansion of two metals results in twisting of bimetallic strip.
 The strip is utilized in the thermometer in two configuration mainly spiral or helix.