Sonoluminescence in Air?
Most recent answer: 03/29/2015
- Llia (age 35)
Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA
Hello Llia,
The phenomenon of sonoluminescence - thus far - has only been observed in *polar* liquids - i.e. liquids composed of molecules with permanent electric dipole moments....
This fact implies that the physical/electromagnetic properties of the medium in which the bubble is immersed plays a critical role in the sonoluminescence phenomenon...
Air is primarily composed of N2 & O2 molecules, and trace amounts of CO2 & argon - none of which are polar. Hence, it is unlikely that sonoluminesence in air is possible...
Additionally, e.g. in ultrasonic acoustic levitation experiments, no one {yet} has detected the emission of light emanating from the acoustic foci...
LeeH with consulting help from SteveE
(published on 03/29/2015)