Is it possible for sound to be turned into electricity?

Ear-bursting volume can cause headaches and frequencies can shatter glass, but sound might not be as powerful as you think.

Published: November 5, 2016 at 2:00 pm

Asked by: Sam Tuttle, Leicester

Sound is made up of vibrations, and as such is a source of energy that is capable of being converted into electricity. But while, say, a pneumatic drill sounds incredibly ‘powerful’ to us, that says more about how sensitive our ears are.

In reality, sound energy is far more dilute than the energy packed into sunlight, and thus very hard to exploit.

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