ULTRASONICS



The word ultrasonic combines the Latin roots ultra, meaning "beyond," and sonic, or sound. The field of ultrasonics thus involves the use of sound waves outside the audible range for humans. These sounds have applications for imaging, detection, and navigation—from helping prospective parents get a glimpse of their unborn child to guiding submarines through the oceans. Ultrasonics can be used to join materials, as for instance in welding or the homogenization of milk, or to separate them, as for example in extremely delicate cleaning operations. Among the broad sectors of society that regularly apply ultrasonic technology are the medical community, industry, the military, and private citizens.

In the realm of physics, ultrasonics falls under the category of studies in sound. Sound itself fits within the larger heading of wave motion, which is in turn closely related to vibration, or harmonic (back-and-forth) motion. Both wave motion and vibration involve the regular repetition of a certain form of movement; and in both, potential energy (think of the energy in a sled at the top of a hill) is continually converted to kinetic energy (like the energy of a sled as it is sliding down the hill) and back again.

Wave motion carries energy from one place to another without actually moving any matter. Waves themselves may consist of matter, as for instance in the case of a wave on a plucked string or the waves on the ocean. This type of wave is called a mechanical wave, but again, the matter itself does not undergo any net displacement over horizontal space: contrary to what our eyes tell us, molecules of water in an ocean wave move up and down, but they do not actually travel with the wave itself. Only the energy is moved.

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User Contributions:

1
kiran
Who invented sonar?
It was Lewis Nixon who invented the very first sonar-type listening device in 1906. He was seeking a way of detecting icebergs.

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