Research & InnovationScience Insider
Do You know how lighters work?
Vidunenahawula Website (National Institute of Fundamental Studies)
In some lighters you can create an electric spark by pressing a crystal. Currently there are both natural and man-made crystals which can turn pressure, sound waves into electrical energy. Do you know how these crystals create electricity? Take quartz as an example. Quartz has Silicon atoms and Oxygen atoms arranged as a crystal structure. The oxygen has a slight negative charge while silicon has a slight positive charge. Due to the structure these charges cancel each other out. But when you apply a pressure the structure changes creating a negative charge and positive charge on either end of the crystal. This creates a voltage that results in electricity.
