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Thermopile
 
 
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A thermopile is an electronic device that converts thermal energy
Thermal energy

Thermal energy is a form of energy that manifests itself as an increase of temperature. It is also the sum of sensible heat and latent heat....
 into electrical energy. It is composed of thermocouple
Thermocouple

A thermocouple is a junction between two different metals that produces a voltage related to a temperature difference. Thermocouples are a widely used type of list of temperature sensors and can also be used to convert heat into electric power....
s connected usually in series , or less commonly in parallel. Thermopiles do not measure the absolute temperature, but generate an output voltage
Voltage

Electrical tension is the potential difference between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit, expressed in volts. It is the measurement of the potential for an electric field to cause an electric current in an electrical conductor....
 proportional to a local temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 difference or temperature gradient. Thermopiles are the key component of the infrared thermometer
Infrared thermometer

Infrared thermometers measure temperature using blackbody radiation emitted from objects. They are sometimes called laser thermometers if a laser is used to help aim the thermometer, or non-contact thermometers to describe the device?s ability to measure temperature from a distance....
s that are widely used by medical professionals to measure body temperature via the ear.






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A thermopile is an electronic device that converts thermal energy
Thermal energy

Thermal energy is a form of energy that manifests itself as an increase of temperature. It is also the sum of sensible heat and latent heat....
 into electrical energy. It is composed of thermocouple
Thermocouple

A thermocouple is a junction between two different metals that produces a voltage related to a temperature difference. Thermocouples are a widely used type of list of temperature sensors and can also be used to convert heat into electric power....
s connected usually in series , or less commonly in parallel. Thermopiles do not measure the absolute temperature, but generate an output voltage
Voltage

Electrical tension is the potential difference between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit, expressed in volts. It is the measurement of the potential for an electric field to cause an electric current in an electrical conductor....
 proportional to a local temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 difference or temperature gradient. Thermopiles are the key component of the infrared thermometer
Infrared thermometer

Infrared thermometers measure temperature using blackbody radiation emitted from objects. They are sometimes called laser thermometers if a laser is used to help aim the thermometer, or non-contact thermometers to describe the device?s ability to measure temperature from a distance....
s that are widely used by medical professionals to measure body temperature via the ear. They are also used widely in heat flux sensor
Heat flux sensor

A heat flux sensor is a commonly used name for a transducer generating a signal that is proportional to the local heat flux. This heat flux can have different origins; in principle convective-, radiative- as well as conductive heat can be measured....
s (such as the Moll thermopile and Eppley pyrheliometer) and gas burner safety controls. The output of a thermopile is usually in the range of tens or hundreds of millivolts. As well as increasing the signal level, the device may be used to provide spatial temperature averaging.

See also

  • Thermoelectric Effect
    Thermoelectric effect

    The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa. On the measurement scale of everyday life, a thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side....
  • Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
    Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

    A radioisotope thermoelectric generator is an electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactivity material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples....


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