When a Helmholtz resonator is driven with sufficiently high amplitude, the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the resonator and the non-uniform oscillating flow of air into and out of the resonator opening results in a reaction force on the resonator akin to rocket thrust. The earliest demonstration of “acoustic repulsion” using small Helmholtz resonators was reported by M. Dvorak [Philos. Mag. Ser. 5 6(36), 225 (1878)]. Lord Rayleigh explained that the average pressure inside the resonator is higher than the external atmospheric pressure, with the result that the “resonator tends to move as if impelled by a force” [Philos. Mag. Ser. 5 6(37), 270 (1878)]. This demonstration will show an updated version of Dvorak's 1878 apparatus using Christmas ornament balls as suggested by Uno Ingard, [Notes on Acoustics (Infinity Science Press, 2008), p. 336]. In addition to showing the resonator rocket in action and discussing its history and various theorical explanations, this demonstration will show how the amount of “thrust” may be measured with a mass balance and will attempt to visualize the flow in the neck of the oscillator.
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October 2020
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October 01 2020
An acoustic resonator rocket: Reviving Dvorak's 1878 acoustic repulsion apparatus
Daniel A. Russell
Daniel A. Russell
Graduate Program in Acoust., Penn State Univ., 201 Appl. Sci. Bldg, University Park, PA 16802, dar119@psu.edu
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J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 148, 2610 (2020)
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Daniel A. Russell; An acoustic resonator rocket: Reviving Dvorak's 1878 acoustic repulsion apparatus. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 October 2020; 148 (4_Supplement): 2610. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5147252
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