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    How Acoustic Levitation Works

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    dranandrt
    1) Acoustic levitation uses a transducer to generate sound waves that bounce off a reflector, creating standing waves with nodes of low pressure that can counteract gravity. 2) The sound waves travel longitudinally and reflect according to the law of reflection, generating interference patterns when they meet. 3) By positioning the transducer and reflector correctly, an acoustic levitator can form a standing wave with nodes that exert little enough pressure for objects to hover just below, balanced by the upward acoustic radiation pressure and downward pull of gravity.

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    How Acoustic Levitation Works

    Uploaded by

    dranandrt
    59 views3 pages
    1) Acoustic levitation uses a transducer to generate sound waves that bounce off a reflector, creating standing waves with nodes of low pressure that can counteract gravity. 2) The sound waves travel longitudinally and reflect according to the law of reflection, generating interference patterns when they meet. 3) By positioning the transducer and reflector correctly, an acoustic levitator can form a standing wave with nodes that exert little enough pressure for objects to hover just below, balanced by the upward acoustic radiation pressure and downward pull of gravity.

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    Physics Classics.

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    1) Acoustic levitation uses a transducer to generate sound waves that bounce off a reflector, creating standing waves with nodes of low pressure that can counteract gravity. 2) The sound waves travel longitudinally and reflect according to the law of reflection, generating interference patterns when they meet. 3) By positioning the transducer and reflector correctly, an acoustic levitator can form a standing wave with nodes that exert little enough pressure for objects to hover just below, balanced by the upward acoustic radiation pressure and downward pull of gravity.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    59 views3 pages

    How Acoustic Levitation Works

    Uploaded by

    dranandrt
    1) Acoustic levitation uses a transducer to generate sound waves that bounce off a reflector, creating standing waves with nodes of low pressure that can counteract gravity. 2) The sound waves travel longitudinally and reflect according to the law of reflection, generating interference patterns when they meet. 3) By positioning the transducer and reflector correctly, an acoustic levitator can form a standing wave with nodes that exert little enough pressure for objects to hover just below, balanced by the upward acoustic radiation pressure and downward pull of gravity.

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    science.howstuffworks.

    com

    How Acoustic Levitation Works


    Tracy V. Wilson

    4-5 minutes

    A basic acoustic levitator has two main parts -- a transducer,


    which is a vibrating surface that makes sound, and a reflector.
    Often, the transducer and reflector have concave surfaces to
    help focus the sound. A sound wave travels away from the
    transducer and bounces off the reflector. Three basic properties
    of this traveling, reflecting wave help it to suspend objects in
    midair.

    First, the wave, like all sound, is a longitudinal pressure wave.


    In a longitudinal wave, movement of the points in the wave is
    parallel to the direction the wave travels. It's the kind of motion
    you'd see if you pushed and pulled one end of a stretched
    Slinky. Most illustrations, though, depict sound as a transverse
    wave, which is what you would see if you rapidly moved one
    end of the Slinky up and down. This is simply because
    transverse waves are easier to visualize than longitudinal
    waves.

    Second, the wave can bounce off of surfaces. It follows the law
    of reflection, which states that the angle of incidence -- the
    angle at which something strikes a surface -- equals the angle
    of reflection -- the angle at which it leaves the surface. In other
    words, a sound wave bounces off a surface at the same angle
    at which it hits the surface. A sound wave that hits a surface
    head-on at a 90 degree angle will reflect straight back off at the
    same angle. The easiest way to understand wave reflection is to
    imagine a Slinky that is attached to a surface at one end. If you
    picked up the free end of the Slinky and moved it rapidly up and
    then down, a wave would travel the length of the spring. Once it
    reached the fixed end of the spring, it would reflect off of the
    surface and travel back toward you. The same thing happens if
    you push and pull one end of the spring, creating a longitudinal
    wave.

    Finally, when a sound wave reflects off of a surface, the


    interaction between its compressions and rarefactions causes
    interference. Compressions that meet other compressions
    amplify one another, and compressions that meet rarefactions
    balance one another out. Sometimes, the reflection and
    interference can combine to create a standing wave. Standing
    waves appear to shift back and forth or vibrate in segments
    rather than travel from place to place. This illusion of stillness is
    what gives standing waves their name.

    Standing sound waves have defined nodes, or areas of


    minimum pressure, and antinodes, or areas of maximum
    pressure. A standing wave's nodes are at the heart of acoustic
    levitation. Imagine a river with rocks and rapids. The water is
    calm in some parts of the river, and it is turbulent in others.
    Floating debris and foam collect in calm portions of the river. In
    order for a floating object to stay still in a fast-moving part of the
    river, it would need to be anchored or propelled against the flow
    of the water. This is essentially what an acoustic levitator does,
    using sound moving through a gas in place of water.

    By placing a reflector the right distance away from a transducer,


    the acoustic levitator creates a standing wave. When the
    orientation of the wave is parallel to the pull of gravity, portions
    of the standing wave have a constant downward pressure and
    others have a constant upward pressure. The nodes have very
    little pressure.

    In space, where there is little gravity, floating particles collect in


    the standing wave's nodes, which are calm and still. On Earth,
    objects collect just below the nodes, where the acoustic
    radiation pressure, or the amount of pressure that a sound
    wave can exert on a surface, balances the pull of gravity.

    It takes more than just ordinary sound waves to supply this


    amount of pressure. We'll look at what's special about the sound
    waves in an acoustic levitator in the next section.

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