Can we conduct electricity without metal?

Question

Can we conduct electricity without metal wires or a medium?
I mean wireless conduction of electricity?

Answer 1

It has been done, but not on the scale Tesla talked about.

Radio waves induce current in certain objects. Antennae take advantage of that to reconvert them into sound.

Answer 2

Electrical current just means the motion of charged particles. It can also be conducted through ionic solution such as salt water, molten salt itself (hot), ionized gases called plasma (hot), superconducting ceramics (cold), and an electron beam in vacuum (like in a tv tube).

Follow up. Oh, you mean wireless transmission of electrical power. That can be done by radiation or, for short distances, *induction*, not conduction. There's a new technique of resonant induction that induces currents via a tuned oscillating magnetic field in the same room or there abouts. You lose most of the power, so it's just for charging batteries and such.

Answer 3

Electricity is the flow of electrons. Electrons flow through a medium, usually a metal element. Wireless conduction assumes that electricity would be conducted through air or vacuum. in air, one example is a lightning bolt, caused by buildup of static charge- power that people have been trying to harness since ben franklin or longer. In space, waves like radio waves or microwaves travel, and their energy can be used to separate charges and buildup electricity in a battery, but i dont think the electricity itself(i.e) electrons are transfered, just energy.
In terms of technology, I don't know of wireless energy transfer devices, due to the high inefficiency of such transfer.

Answer 4

Sure. Ionic solutions are excellent conductors of electricity. That's how your nervous system and muscles work.

Oh, I saw the additional part about using no medium. A high voltage cathode can radiate electrons through space. That is how vacuum tubes work, including television tubes. It's called corona discharge.

Answer 5

sure. any atom which has three or less electrons in its valence shell is an insulator, those with 5 or more are conductors. those with exactly four electrons in the valence shell are semi-conductors...like silicon, very few of these
also, study up about transformers in electronics

Answer 6

We can have lightineng bolts go through the void of space. But a wire si so much more efficient.

Answer 7

yes, you can conduct static electricity by rubbing two plastic bags together and then place it above your hair and eventually it will rise.

Answer 8

Pull up this site. It goes into a lot more detail than I can explain.

Answer 9

yes, using electrolytes