You may have encountered basic components and their operation if you are new to the discipline of electrical engineering. There are many specialized components, whose properties are assumed to be standard by most consumers. How does the piezo buzzer work?
What’s a Piezo Buzzer?
Buzzers are an electronic device that emits a sound when it receives an electrical signal. There are many uses for buzzers, and different types of buzzer can be used for different purposes. The most popular of these buzzers is the piezoelectric, also known as the piezobuzzer.
Piezoelectricity, a fundamental principle in modern electronics, describes the unique ability certain crystalline materials have to convert pressure or movement into electric energy. This principle can be used to create transducer microphones or ‘contact’ microphones. A sound signal vibrates a surface, and the piezo pick up converts the vibrations into electrical information. It is also possible to do the opposite, where the material receives an electrical signal and converts it into heat and mechanical energy.
A piezobuzzer is made up of piezoceramic material enclosed in a small enclosure with solder loops or tags for the negative and positive terminals. The buzzer is powered by a voltage and the material converts that voltage into a sound or tone.
Applications for Piezo Buzzers
Piezo buzzers can be used in many different tools, devices, and circuits. There are many different sizes and variants that produce different results. Piezo buzzers are used in alarms and alert systems for both commercial and industrial purposes to emit warning tones.
These are often used to deliver sound effects and audio information in low-cost toys and disposable electrical products. A common example is the “singing birthday cards”, which deliver a tune when opened.
However, the range of Piezo buzzers is limited. They are a cheap alternative to speaker cones in small toys and gadgets, but their frequency response makes them ineffective in delivering high-quality audio information. It can translate sounds into high-quality electrical signals when used in its reverse function as a microphone or pickup.
Piezo Vs Magnetic Buzzer
Buzzers can also be made possible by piezoelectricity. Other types of buzzers use different principles to produce sound. Magnetic buzzers, for example, use an electromagnetic coil to move a magnetic disk in accordance with the fluctuations it creates. This produces an audible tone.
The main difference lies in the operating voltages and the relative sizes of both types of buzzers. While piezo buzzers operate at lower voltages and are more compact, magnetic buzzers can be louder than those of a smaller size and consume more power.
