Abstract
Early theoretical considerations of piezoelectricity were mostly qualitative. Indeed, Jacques and Pierre Curie mathematically showed the plausibility of their model of permanent polar molecules. Yet, they did this only for an effect along a polar axis in a model of tourmaline. A mathematical account of the observed phenomena was limited to the development of charge in one axis. No mathematical account was suggested for the variation of the phenomenon with the directions of pressure and the measured surface (the value of Mallard’s constant k as a function of the directions). The hypotheses on the connection between piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity were qualitative in character. From all the observations on the behavior of quartz under pressure and heating, only the case of uniformheating was illustrated mathematically. Alack of quantitative data on the magnitude of the electric phenomenawas an obstacle to the formulation of a mathematical theory. Still, for a few crystal species enough experimental datawas accumulated to enable the formulation of a mathematical theory that accounts for some aspects of the phenomena, like the directions of maximal and null effects for any direction of pressure.
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© 2006 Springer
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KATZIR, S. (2006). THE ROAD TO THE DESCRIPTIVE THEORY. In: KATZIR, S. (eds) THE BEGINNINGS OF PIEZOELECTRICITY. BOSTON STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, vol 246. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4670-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4670-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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