Actions and Reactions

Currently Playing: How to squeeze electricity out of crystals - Ashwini Bharathula

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-squeeze-electricity-out-of-crystals-ashwini-bharathula It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will actually generate its own electricity. This simple crystal can act like a tiny power source because sugar happens to be piezoelectric. Ashwini Bharathula explains how piezoelectric materials turn mechanical stress, like pressure, sound waves and other vibrations into electricity, and vice versa. Lesson by Ashwini Bharathula, animation by Karrot Animation.