Can you use sound waves to create friction, in turn creating power at a distance?

Question

Can you use sound waves to create friction at a distance and have the friction create power at the new location.

Could you use sound wave to say spin a generator at a distance, and have that create power? I saw they have focused sound wave technology, would this be something that could be used as a wireless extension cord?

Answer 1

Friction = heat, and heat has to be converted back to a usuable form of energy, a wasteful process.

Answer 2

I think you may be confusing a few different things.

Sound is created by the movement (osculation) of particles be they gas, liquid or solid particles. They travel different speeds in different materials.

Now friction is a type of energy and as sound waves travel by disturbing the particle next to them and transferring energy some of the energy turns into heat energy (friction).

Work on the other hand requires energy. So I think you asking if you can transfer energy via sound waves and use it to do work.

If that is you question the answer is yes however, it would be very inefficient and you would not be able to transfer enough energy to make it useful.

As a side note we use waves to do work all the time. That's how a microwave oven works!

Good question

Answer 3

Create friction? Not sure I understand. Friction is resistance to movement, and it usually creates heat. Can you use sound waves to transfer energy across a distance? Oh boy can you. Dolphins can do it so well that can stun their prey with sound. (of course, water is a more efficient medium than air, but it's a difference in degree, not principle.)

Could sound waves create movement at a distance, which could be converted back into some other form of power--no doubt that it could, but it's a question of efficiency. My guess is that it would take a tremendous amount of power to generate sound waves (which are just kinetic energy propagating through air) that could do any significant work at any significant distance. Short answer: yes, but why?

Answer 4

NO it would be a matter of power loss in transmission being WAY too great and they would cause vibration which you would have too convert to heat to get useful work- this has worked in lab tests and will someday be used as a weapon (ultrasonic frequencies)FOR THE answers below they use the vibration to agitate water molecules to produce steam (which is turbine power source in nuclear plants) the key is multiple sound waves that focus on a single point but still too inefficient for power transmission AS AN ASIDE Orcas have been found to use sound waves to stun prey

Answer 5

the problems for this would include but are not limited to:
- collection, how would convert sound energy into a useable form?
- then how would collect enough of it effectively to get more useable energy out of it than we're using to create it?

Answer 6

You've been reading too much science fiction.