Electricity from Heat: The Seebeck Effect in Action

Generating electricity from heat without any moving parts sounds like science fiction - yet it's possible! Traditionally, the heat to electricity conversion is done with things like steam turbines and other mechanical systems. But by applying the Seebeck effect, we can directly convert a temperature difference to electricity. In this video, we go over what the Seebeck effect is, how it can be used, and then demonstrate using it to power a small circuit.

Sections:
0:00 - Introduction
0:11 - Electrici-tea generation
1:03 - Seebeck effect explained
2:03 - Thermoelectric generators
2:48 - The importance of heatsinks
3:20 - Demo: Circuit overview
3:54 - Demo: Assembly
5:54 - Demo: Trying it out
7:12 - Discussion on real-world uses
7:59 - Conclusion

Parts:
LED - LTL2R3KRD-EM
TEC - Hebei TEC1-12706

Context:
I made this video to explain the Seebeck effect to students in the 6-8th grades (US grading system). As a result, some terms have been simplified based on the expected prior knowledge of the students. For example, "heat" in physics refers specifically to energy in transfer, but in the presentation, it is used in the more colloquial sense.

This video was shown at the 2020 Virtual Cool Science Festival. Learn more at https://www.coolscience.org/cool-scie....

Special thanks to Keysight Technologies for loaning the oscilloscope used in this video! The views I express and materials included in the video are my own and not those of Keysight.

Other Credits:
Lighter_sparks_and_flame.jpg: Hustvedt derivative work: Octave.H, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cricket Lighter isolated: Anton Zelenov , CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons