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My partner and I are doing a school science fair project, and we thought that power from sound is a great idea. We found that sound is vibrations and and make power. We just don't know how. We are looking for a way to experiment this. Can you help us?
Thanks
Matty and Sam
Power from sound/vibration
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theborg
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Re: Power from sound/vibration
MattySam,
Thank you for the question and welcome to the forum. You are right that sound is created from vibration. However, they themselves do not create power. Rather it is the energy from the vibrating object that is propagating through the air to your ears. For example, a speaker uses electrical power to vibrate the speaker, in turn compressing the air nearby. that pressure wave travels out in waves through the air, just like waves in water. The energy of the sound wave decreases as it moves away from the source. This drop is usually in accordance with the inverse square law. Meaning the further you move away from the source the energy of the wave decreases by the square of the radious from the source. This says that the energy of a sound wave at 2 meters from a source will be a fourth as strong as measured at 1 meter. The energy can be measured in decibels with a number of smartphone apps, such deciBel for Android. I would suggest a project that explores this phenomenon. Also, sound travels differently through different mediums like air and water and will not travel through a vacuum. perhaps experimenting with sound through different materials to see which one sound proofs better.
Thank you for the question and welcome to the forum. You are right that sound is created from vibration. However, they themselves do not create power. Rather it is the energy from the vibrating object that is propagating through the air to your ears. For example, a speaker uses electrical power to vibrate the speaker, in turn compressing the air nearby. that pressure wave travels out in waves through the air, just like waves in water. The energy of the sound wave decreases as it moves away from the source. This drop is usually in accordance with the inverse square law. Meaning the further you move away from the source the energy of the wave decreases by the square of the radious from the source. This says that the energy of a sound wave at 2 meters from a source will be a fourth as strong as measured at 1 meter. The energy can be measured in decibels with a number of smartphone apps, such deciBel for Android. I would suggest a project that explores this phenomenon. Also, sound travels differently through different mediums like air and water and will not travel through a vacuum. perhaps experimenting with sound through different materials to see which one sound proofs better.
Hope this helps.
theborg
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Science Buddies science fair guide:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtml
Science Buddies project ideas:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas.shtml
theborg
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Science Buddies science fair guide:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtml
Science Buddies project ideas:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas.shtml
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Re: Power from sound/vibration
Hi MattySam,
In addition to what theborg said, I want to clarify your expectations for your project. Sound waves (which are vibrations traveling through the air, like you said) can be converted into electrical energy. That is how microphones work. The microphone receives the sound wave from the air and converts it into an electrical signal, which is read by a device like a computer or phone. (This is the opposite of how a speaker works, like the borg described, where an electrical signal is used to create a vibration). However, the amount of electrical power generated by a regular microphone is very small. It would not be anywhere near enough, for example, to power a light bulb or charge a phone. So, if you have an adult helper who is familiar with electronics, you might be able to measure the power output of a single microphone, then calculate how many you would need to do something like power a light bulb.
Hope that helps,
Ben
In addition to what theborg said, I want to clarify your expectations for your project. Sound waves (which are vibrations traveling through the air, like you said) can be converted into electrical energy. That is how microphones work. The microphone receives the sound wave from the air and converts it into an electrical signal, which is read by a device like a computer or phone. (This is the opposite of how a speaker works, like the borg described, where an electrical signal is used to create a vibration). However, the amount of electrical power generated by a regular microphone is very small. It would not be anywhere near enough, for example, to power a light bulb or charge a phone. So, if you have an adult helper who is familiar with electronics, you might be able to measure the power output of a single microphone, then calculate how many you would need to do something like power a light bulb.
Hope that helps,
Ben