Is it possible to use crystals (either known or unknown types) as a source of energy like in Star Trek?
I am asking because I dimly recall reading some new-agey thing that said that crystals because of light and the principle of resonance store energy like a battery. Normally the word “bunk” would come to mind, but the article had a sufficiently scientific bent to make it convincing.
Well, I think it’s possible to project Neutrons at certain crystals and cause them to emit energy, then there are piezo-electric crystals which produce electric current when they are deformed but a good general rule is to treat with high suspicion anything that you read containing the words resonance, energy, crystals and magnetism.
There really isn’t anything all that “Star Trek” about crystals. All solids are either crystaline or amorphous. A crystal is simply a solid with the atoms or molecules arranged in a regular, repeating pattern. “Crystals” aren’t all that special and are extreemly varied in their properties due to being extreemly varied in what makes them up. Ice, cyanide, and quartz are all crystals.
That said, I can think of two methods you could use “crystals” as an energy source. The first is to store mechanical energy in C[sub]60[/sub] crystals. Carbon nanotubes can act as springs. I doubt you’d be able to power a vehicle this way, however.
A better method would be ammonium nitrate crystals (heh heh…BOOM!)
Where was the article? A crystal COULD be used as some sort of catalyst thereby lowering/raising energy thresholds for exo/endothermic reactions. I can’t cite any examples, of course, but it’s possible.
Sonar works via the piezo-electric crystals mentioned earlier. When subjected to a specific frequency they resonate (stretch/compress) and produce a tiny electrical current which is then picked up by other sensitive equipment. I doubt it could be used as a viable energy source, but then IANAn engineer or whatever.
[dork alert] technically, the dilithium crystals in star trek did not generate the power for the Enterprise. the matter and antimatter combination supplied the power. the dilithium simply provided a place for the reaction to occur (dilithium is impervious to antimatter (i think) [/dork alert]
[big dork alert] piezoelectric crystals could be used for power generation, but the only likely way is AC generation. if you compress and release one of those crystals, it will pump out a slight current, and then reverse the polarity and suck it back.
but for AC to be usable, the compress/release cycle would have to be very regular. so you can’t line a room with piezoelectric quartz and pay some schmucks to jump up and down. no viable energy there.
however, you could have a roomful of hamster cages, with little hamster wheels. attach each wheel to a gear, and the whole gear apparatus to a governer of some sort. attach the governer to your crystal compressor, and you theoretically get a nice 60 mHz AC current. [/yah dah dah DAH- Superdork!]
jb
AC doesn’t have to be that regular to be useful. The output frequency of a bicycle dynamo changes with speed, but that doesn’t bother the light bulb. Someone even “invented” shoes with piezoelectric crystals, so you can recharge your cell phone by just walking around.
Drat, beaten to the dork punch. :smack: I believe the crystals also focus the energy into a beam that can be directed to where they need it.
Nitpick: In that case, it’s not the crystals that actually supply the power, it’s whatever you’re using to compress them. The piezoelectrics (which IIRC are usually metal, not crystal) would just transfer the energy from mechanical to electric form.
i believe that bicycle dynamos are DC.
and although i can’t find much about the Trevor Bayliss’s crazy power shoes (that dude is a badass, btw), i am pretty certain that there is some kind of regulator to keep the power supply to the battery charger constant.
jb
1.) You can use crystals as rectifiers (to turn AC to DC, for example) or to manipulate power in other ways.
2.) piezo-electric crystals can be used to transfgorm motion.compression to voltage (and vice-versa)
3.) Both of these are pretty familiar and pretty small effects. I don’t think anything really matches the usual New Age idea of crystals as power sources. They look really neat, though.
4.) When I was working on Laser Propulsion of spacecraft (no joke – it was when I worked at a defense contractor) we needed an easily dissociated source for ions (to initiate Laser Sustained Detonation waves) , so we looked at various alkali metal compounds. One of the ones we found wasn’t really a good choice, based on the numbers. But we had to try it anyway.
It was Dilthium Tartrate
As far as I know, we are the first (and, thus far only) people to really use Dilithium Crystals for Space Travel experiments.
The Piezoelectric Quartz Crystal Unit is one of the truly amazing components that we have. I worked in the frequency control industry for a lot of years and have a deep and abiding affection for it. There are several excellent tutorials and papers on the subject at this site: http://www.ieee-uffc.org/fcmain.asp
This next link is to a commercial site, and I hope I may be forgiven for posting it. Without making any claims, I will say that the technical paper on crystals is very, very similar to one I wrote for another company. http://www.ecsxtal.com/pdf/quar_des.pdf At any rate, it is an excellent paper.
I’m back, and hopefully a little more helpful this time
Is it possible that the article you read had to do with solar energy? Single-crystal silicon is the most common semiconductor used in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells. Solar cells convert light to electrical energy.
I think this is correct; I think they have the same sort of commutator and brushes as a DC motor.
of course, an AC generator also has brushes and a commutator (i’m pretty sure). just in case anyone wants to jump that bone.
anyway, no reason for a bicylce powered generator to be AC. i mean, think of the logistics.
jb
p.s.- still nothing on the power insoles- not even of howstuffworks.
p.p.s.- jb
AC generators (like the alternator in your car, or the generators at power stations) can be brush or brushless. Often they’re brushless for longer life - you put permanent magnets on the spinning armature, and stationary windings around it, and get an AC signal out with frequency a factor of the spinning rotation.
What would be wrong with the logistics? The usual thing you’re going to be powering with a bicycle generator is the little light on the front of the bicycle, and that will work equally well off AC or DC.
What logistics? A light bulb will run on AC or DC just as well for the most part.
yeah, but we’re talking about a cheapo little wheel-powered generator. and i would bet that DC is cheaper and easier to build than AC (or at least that cheaply made DC generators last longer than cheaply built AC).
jb
p.s.- the pre-emptive bone warning caused the bone to get jumped! DAMN!
What are the differences that make a DC generator cheaper than an AC generator? I thought they were basically the same.
[quote]
Originally posted by jb_farley **
yeah, but we’re talking about a cheapo little wheel-powered generator. and i would bet that DC is cheaper and easier to build than AC (or at least that cheaply made DC generators last longer than cheaply built AC). **
An AC generator should be less expensive and simpler than DC generator because it has fewer parts. AC is the natural result when a magnet rotates inside the field coils of a generator. In order to convert that to DC, a rectifier is needed which is an added part.
An AC generator of the type needed for bicycles merely needs to be a small permanent magnet rotating inside the field coils with two wires from the field to the load.
This is possibly a terminology problem. According to this page:
No a DC generator does not need a rectifier.
http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~phy3054/magnet/inductn/gens/dchand/Welcome.html
An AC generator
http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~phy3054/magnet/inductn/gens/achand/Welcome.html
The difference is how you connect the windings. I could see how the DC generator might be cheaper because the brushes to connect the winding look easier to make to me. Of course my link is only one way to make an AC generator.
http://www.tpub.com/neets/book5/17b.htm
Shows an AC generator in which the magnet moves and not the coil which would mean it would not need brushes at all.