Externally applied mechanical forces acting on a body, such as normal and shear forces, will cause deformation dependent on the characteristics of that body and the magnitudes of the applied forces. Similarly, changes in temperature can cause deformation (i. e., expansion or contraction) as particles and bonds inside the material undergo changes in energy. For simple geometries, the changes in volume are proportional in the linear dimensions. Each of the 25cm×5cm elements below is subjected to a 20 degree change in temperature. Rank the items based on the total change in length along the long axis of the beams. Many polymers such as polyethylene are significantly affected by changes in temperature, especially when compared to the metal and mineral materials discussed here. To a lesser degree, soft metals likewise are significantly affected by temperature changes. For example when heated, lead expands almost a third more than aluminum and almost twice as much gold. However, hard metals and materials, such as platinum and quartz, do not deform significantly in response to temperature. Because platinum is a metal, it will deform almost nine times more than quartz.

a. Platinum ΔT= =20°C
b. Polyethylene ΔT= +20°C
c. Gold ΔT= +20°C
d. Quartz ΔT= -20°C
e. Lead ΔT= -20°C
f. Aluminum ΔT= +20°C

Infrared sensor is most used sensor in wireless technology where remote controlling functions and detection of surrounding objects/ obstacles are involved. this post will discuss about what is infrared sensor, its working principle, how it works, types, applications, advantages and disadvantages. what is infrared sensor

ir sensor is a simple electronic device which emits and detects ir radiation in order to find out certain objects/obstacles in its range. some of its features are heat and motion sensing.

ir sensors use infrared radiation of wavelength between 0.75 to 1000µm which falls between visible and microwave regions of electromagnetic spectrum. ir region is not visible to human eyes. infrared spectrum is categorized into three regions based on its wavelength i.e. near infrared, mid infrared, far infrared.

wavelength regions of infrared spectrum

near ir – 0.75µm to 3 µm
mid ir – 3 µm to 6 µm
far ir – > 6 µm
1 introduction to infrared sensor

fig. 1 – introduction to infrared sensor

working principle of infrared sensor

infrared sensors works on three fundamental physics laws:

planck’s radiation law: any object whose temperature is not equal to absolute zero (0 kelvin) emits radiation.
stephan boltzmann law: the total energy emitted at all wavelengths by a black body is related to the absolute temperature.
wein’s displacement law: objects of different temperature emit spectra that peak at different wavelengths that is inversely proportional to temperature.
key elements of infrared detection system

the key elements of infrared detection system are:

ir transmitter

ir transmitter acts as source for ir radiation. according to plank’s radiation law, every object is a source of ir radiation at temp t above 0 kelvin. in most cases black body radiators, tungsten lamps, silicon carbide, infrared lasers, leds of infrared wavelength are used as sources.

transmission medium

as the name suggests, transmission medium provides passage for the radiation to reach from ir transmitter to ir receiver. vacuum, atmosphere and optical fibers are used as medium.

ir receiver

generally ir receivers are photo diode and photo transistors. they are capable of detecting infrared radiation. hence ir receiver is also called as ir detector. variety of receivers are available based on wavelength, voltage and package.

ir transmitter and receivers are selected with matching parameters. some of deciding specifications of receivers are photosensitivity or responsivity, noise equivalent power and detectivity.