Medical Physics (Piezo-Electricity)

Piezoelectricity or the piezoelectric effect was discovered in the 18th century by two brothers demonstrating the use of crystals of quartz, topaz, tourmaline and sugar cane in charge center mechanics resulting in the generation of an electric field which can either be reversed thus leading to piezoelectricity.

This finding becomes interesting when an alternating voltage is applied across electrodes causing the crystals to vibrate with a frequency equal to that of the applied voltage. These vibrations are likely to have small amplitudes which can be maximized with a transducer thus generating ultrasound which is the heart of medical physics.