Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Is there any way i can determine what voltage or current a peizoelectric source is giving. Scince there are sparks being generated, I cant figure out how to find the current or voltage. I know that any simple device wont work with this... Help me.. I have no knowledge about piezoelectricity.....

Surajgoel5 - The difficulty in measuring the voltage and current of a piezoelectric device is that the output power is extremely low, in the neighborhood of a fraction of a microwatt. Because the voltage is very high, thousands of volts, the current would be in pico or nano amps. In addition, a typical igniter assembly, which you are possibly using, has a very short pulse duration, a power envelope measured in milliseconds. The kinds of instruments needed to measure these levels of electrical voltage and current are well beyond the means of hobbyists. If you do a search on "voltage and current output of piezoelectric devices" you will find several articles that might give you some clue of what to expect. One article I read suggested that a piezo device could charge a small battery after 24 hours of continuous cycling. Good luck.

Rick Marz

Surajgoel5 - The difficulty in measuring the voltage and current of a piezoelectric device is that the output power is extremely low, in the neighborhood of a fraction of a microwatt. Because the voltage is very high, thousands of volts, the current would be in pico or nano amps. In addition, a typical igniter assembly, which you are possibly using, has a very short pulse duration, a power envelope measured in milliseconds. The kinds of instruments needed to measure these levels of electrical voltage and current are well beyond the means of hobbyists. If you do a search on "voltage and current output of piezoelectric devices" you will find several articles that might give you some clue of what to expect. One article I read suggested that a piezo device could charge a small battery after 24 hours of continuous cycling. Good luck.

Rick Marz

thanks!