By the modern technology it may be possible to invent wireless electricity
2006-09-20 07:13:07 · 12 answers · asked by RAMESH K 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Not likely. Electricity is notoriously hard to control whilst travelling through the air due to the fact that, unless it's insulated, electricity will ground pretty much anywhere it can (think a thunder storm, how electricity can strike anywhere, yet rarely the same place twice). If it was "wireless" it would have to be contained in a highly concentrated magnetic field, which in itself it would require even more electricity to power that, and so on. It's just not logical to have "wireless electricity" or even practical in the least. Besides which batteries and the like can provide an adequate transportable form of electricity.
2006-09-20 07:16:47 · answer #1 · answered by Maxx Power 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes but in pretty much all cases it would involve converting the electricity to another form and back again.
Over short distances the obvious and easiest choice in electromagnetism i.e. a transformer where electricity is converter to a magnetic Field in a coil and via this field to another coil in close proximity to it, this is also able to pass through low density materials along the way i.e. air/water/plastic etc. However as magnetic fields dissipate rapidly with distance between the coils its not much use for distances more than a few mm.
For longer distances the electricity could be converted to micro or radio waves but it is difficult to focus the energy to over receiving point. Simple light and a photo electric cell to receive could be used in the same way but suffers from the same problem of scattering and dissipation.
The logical awnser would be the user of laser light as it is completely focused and would not be dissipated. High powered lasers in the region of several KW are commercially available, they have enough power to cut steel and can easily cover distances of hundreds of miles with minimal dissipation. The trick would be converting the laser light back to use full electricity at the other end, I do not know if a laser light version of the photo electric cell exists, however heating gas or water to drive a turbine and alternator at the other end would generate your electricity, although there would be losses of at least 60%.
The only down side is that if an object were to come into the path of a laser of this power it is most likely to be severely damaged!!
2006-09-20 18:10:09 · answer #2 · answered by ChEng 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even though it is probably possible to draw upon the electrons in the air, the amount that can safely be drawn would probably only power the light in your wrist watch and nothing else. In order to draw enough electricity to power normal appliances, the amount of electrons needed would be probably be too wild to control. Like mentioned above, electricity will seek out a place to go to, and that place may be the ground, a wall, a person, an animal, a tree, whatever.
It is a nice thought though, but unfortunately not practical.
2006-09-20 14:27:56 · answer #3 · answered by CR 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure. All radio signals are "wireless electricity".
Whenever you use an RF tag, a radio, TV, or any type of remote control, you are using "wireless electricity".
If you mean transmitting power wirelessly, that has been proven to be impractical over long distances because electromagnetic waves spread out. Most of the power would radiate out into space and be lost.
2006-09-20 14:22:34 · answer #4 · answered by Randy G 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sure, and it already exists. There is even an annual competition based on it. The Space Elevator climber competition is for robots powered off of "wireless electricity". They take their power, convert it to light (spot light), and the robot must collect it and use it as it's power source (solar collectors). This is exactly the concept of transmitting power without using wires. The same can be accomplished with non-visible mediums like microwaves.
2006-09-20 16:25:28 · answer #5 · answered by BrianW 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Transmission is not a problem rather generation. Think of generating electricity from sun light, waves etc.
You have to understand the paradox in your Q. You have to first convert electricity to some other form of energy and then again reconvert. Already solar energy is available for free. So now convert this and live happily for ever. Hope you understood.
2006-09-21 04:47:06 · answer #6 · answered by indiananytime 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not in any useful sense. The problem is that when you broadcast energy from an antenna, most of it goes nowhere that is useful, so you get done in by one-over-r-squared. And there is no reasonable way to fix this. Suppose that various power users each had an antenna to receive broadcast power from a central station. One of these users is your desk lamp. You turn on the lamp. How is the central station going to start sending power to your antenna (and not just off into outer space)?
2006-09-20 14:27:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible to conserve energy from one form to another, in wired mode or in wireless mode, but efficiency of such a system, with current technology, is less. Research is still going on that will improve the efficiency.
2006-09-20 23:19:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It should be possible since electricity is just another form of energy.
2006-09-28 12:45:45 · answer #9 · answered by sures 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tesla invented wireless electricity years ago.
http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnifying_Transmitter
2006-09-20 14:21:02 · answer #10 · answered by shake_um 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋