What is a smoke alarm made out of?

Answer 1

Most smoke detectors work either by optical detection (photoelectric) or by physical process (ionization), while others use both detection methods to increase sensitivity to smoke. For the alarm part, in many single family detached and smaller multiple family housings, a smoke alarm is often powered only by a single disposable battery. An optical detector is a light sensor. When used as a smoke detector, it includes a light source (incandescent bulb or infrared LED), a lens to collimate the light into a beam, and a photodiode or other photoelectric sensor at an angle to the beam as a light detector. In the absence of smoke, the light passes in front of the detector in a straight line. When smoke enters the optical chamber across the path of the light beam, some light is scattered by the smoke particles, directing it at the sensor and thus triggering the alarm. An ionizing detector type of detector is cheaper than the optical detector; however, it is sometimes rejected because it is more prone to false alarms than photoelectric smoke detectors. It can detect particles of smoke that are too small to be visible. It includes about 37 kBq or 1 µCi of radioactive americium 241, corresponding to about 0.3 µg of the isotope. The radiation passes through an ionization chamber, an air-filled space between two electrodes, and permits a small, constant current between the electrodes. Any smoke that enters the chamber absorbs the alpha particles, which reduces the ionization and interrupts this current, setting off the alarm. From Wikipedia.