Tomorrow we do our first (and final) dress rehearsal for the play (uhh lecture with costumes) “Conversations on Victorian Chemistry”, which will be held Wednesday at the Morgan-Manning House (in Brockport, for the 2-3 out of state visitors to my website). In addition to the performance, we are showcasing some chemistry demonstrations. Piezoelectricity played a significant role in Marie Curie’s discovery of radioactivity and we have made some piezoelectric crystals out of cream of tartar. After following the suggestions in this Collin’s Lab video, I just went into our stockroom and found some potassium sodium tartrate (aka Rochelle’s salt) to recrystallize.
![](https://i0.wp.com/bobthechemist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/piezo2.png?resize=654%2C468&ssl=1)
(and if you are wondering what the connection is with the title, the thing that makes your smartphone vibrate is probably one of these.)