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Title: Amateur scientists - producing light from a bubble of air

Journal Article · · Scientific American
OSTI ID:613696

A glowing bubble of air cannot be bought anywhere at any price. But with an oscilloscope, a moderately precise sound generator, a home stereo amplifier and about $100, readers can turn sound into light through a process called sonoluminescence. The apparatus is relatively simple. A glass spherical flask filled with water serves as the resonator - the cavity in which sound is created to trap and drive the bubble. Small speakers, called piezoelectric transducers, are cemented to the flask and powered by an audo generator and amplifier. Bubbles introduced into the water coalesce at the center of the flask and produce a dim light visible to the unaided eye in a darkened room.

DOE Contract Number:
FG03-92ER12124
OSTI ID:
613696
Journal Information:
Scientific American, Vol. 272, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Feb 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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