Electric Sparks

 


Electric sparks are used for igniting fuel in car engines, powering, electronics, and welding. They are entirely useful, but hard to control in an open space. Generally, sparks will break into branches that move towards the closest metal object.

An exciting new study was released in science advances. It reveals a way to transport electricity through air by ultrasonic waves.

Controlling electric sparks allows guidance of a spark around obstacles, or guiding the spark to hit specific locations.

Dr. Asier Marzo is from the public university of Navarre, and is lead researcher of the work. He reports, “we observed this phenomenon for more than one year, then it took us months to control it, and even longer to find an explanation.” 

One spark heat up the air, allowing the guidance to occur by the air expanding and lowering its density. The hot air is guided by the ultrasonic waves in the areas where the sound intensity is higher. The next spark allows the regions of higher air because of its lower voltage. 

Professor Ari Salmi is from the university of Helsinki. He reports, “precise control of sparks allows their utilization in a wide variety of applications, such as atmospheric sciences, biological procedures and selective powering of circuits.”

In the past, lasers were used to guide sparks. Precise timing was required between the laser and the electric discharge. The new method uses ultrasound rather than lasers. The new equipment is small affordable and can run nonstop.

Josu irisarri is first author of the publication from the Public university of Navarre. He summarizes, “I am excited about the possibility of using very faint sparks for creating controlled tactile stimuli in the hand, perhaps creating the first contactless braille system.”

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