Question: Can Sound Waves Produce Light?

[kaffe]

Hello.
So today I came up with an idea that since light if vibration as well as sound, could sound emit light? I know through sonoluminescence light is emitted from water using the three sides of space and vibration.

I just thought it might be cool to play a keyboard or something and have light be generated from the music.

I'm fairly new to physics to please excuse the possibility of how naive my question may seem..

 

[russ_watters]

Sound and light bear virtually no relationship to each other, but you could certainly map a light generating device to a keyboard to generate whatever light patterns or colors you want. I'm typing on a device capable of such a task right now!

 

[kaffe]

Sound and light bear virtually no relationship to each other, but you could certainly map a light generating device to a keyboard to generate whatever light patterns or colors you want. I'm typing on a device capable of such a task right now!

So sound waves and light waves are totally different? Then how do you explain the sounds from electromagnetism? The low hums that we don't hear. Eric Archer produced a converter that converted light to sound from various light sources: http://ericarcher.net/devices/lite2sound/

 

[russ_watters]

So sound waves and light waves are totally different?

Yes. Virtually nothing in common with each other.

Then how do you explain the sounds from electromagnetism?

You mean like speakers? We have lots of devices that can convert one type of energy into a completely different one. Car engines convert chemical energy into heat energy and kinetic energy, for examples. Solar panels convert light energy into electrical energy. And speakers convert electrical energy into sound energy.

The low hums that we don't hear. Eric Archer produced a converter that converted light to sound from various light sources: http://ericarcher.net/devices/lite2sound/

That's just a poorly developed optical microphone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_microphone

Unlike the laser microphone which measures actual vibration to detect sound with light, that device apparently just takes light patterns and converts them to sound without a real basis for making the transformation. What is being picked-up is not real sounds.

 

[Mu naught]

So sound waves and light waves are totally different? Then how do you explain the sounds from electromagnetism? The low hums that we don't hear. Eric Archer produced a converter that converted light to sound from various light sources: http://ericarcher.net/devices/lite2sound/

The "hum" from transformers and other electrical equipment is from the conductors vibrating due to forces acting on them by induced magnetic fields cause by alternating currents, it has nothing to do with light.