Ultrasonic waves put heavy metals into the air

2002/08/05 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Teknologia
• Fisika

Thanks to ultrasound, scientists from the Polytechnic University of Northeast Xi’an in China have managed to leak mercury and iridium pellets. It should be taken into account that mercury and iridium are the heaviest liquids and solids, respectively, so putting them in the air is not easy by ultrasonic waves.

This is a major achievement
as some materials are so corrosive or hot that they damage or melt the tubes and containers. Therefore, the researchers were looking for a system to transport these materials without touching anything. Although acoustic levitation could be a solution, it was very limited, as it only put light materials in the air, such as water and low-weight organic materials.

Now, Chinese scientists have taken a big step and managed to lebitarize the ball made with the heaviest solid with a single ultrasonic wave emitter. Before, they needed 130 emitters to have a drop of gold in the air. The key has been to change the transmitter design: the flat emitter has been placed at the bottom of a concave container. In this way, ultrasound waves bounce off the walls of the container and strengthen their influence. In this way a durable and powerful sonic cushion is achieved that also allows levitating the heavier metal.