![]() The light can be shining and you get current. Engineers figured out how to tune a light source in a way that is sensitive to smoke. ![]() When light hits something, it generates electric current – it’s very much like a mini solar cell. It’s what Albert Einstein got the Nobel Prize for. Is there a better smoke detector?Ī newer kind of smoke detector is based on the photoelectric effect. Smoke particles block the ions, stopping or reducing the flow of current, which sets off the alarm. So, that lowered current is what your sensor interprets as, hey, there’s smoke here. If smoke is coming into the area where this breaking apart is happening, it will block the charged particles from moving, reducing the current. Alpha particles from the radiation source strike air molecules, which causes them to eject ions, creating a current. This movement of charged particles is what we call electrical current. ![]() And those two oppositely charged ones will be attracted to the negative and positive battery terminals in the smoke detector’s battery. ![]() When that happens, some broken pieces will be positively charged, and others will be negatively charged. These little bullets come out of the source and hit air molecules to break them apart. It emits alpha particles, which you can think of as little bullets. Inside your smoke detector, there’s a small Americium-241 radiation source that’s a byproduct of nuclear fuel. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, CC BY-NC-ND
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June 2023
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