Episode

1626: "Can You Hear Electricity?"

Podcast: Interesting Things with JC
Published: Apr 18, 2026
Duration seconds: 213
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Summary

The sounds we associate with electricity are actually the physical reactions of matter to energy. From lightning to phone chargers, every electrical noise is a byproduct of air expanding or materials vibrating.

Topics

Physics
Electricity
Acoustics
Magnetostriction
Lightning
Power Electronics
Electromagnetism
Frequency

Highlights

Main idea: Electrical 'sound' is actually the movement of air or matter reacting to energy changes
Physical mechanism: Rapid heating from discharges creates pressure waves that we perceive as sound
Practical takeaway: The hum in dimmers and chargers is caused by magnetic forces and high-frequency switching
Technical concept: Magnetostriction causes microscopic shape changes in inductors, creating audible whines
Failure mode: Corona discharges create a continuous hiss through localized air expansion

Chapters

0:00 The Lab Experiment: An exploration of Francis Hawksby's 18th-century electrostatic generator and the physics of air expansion.
0:40 The Scale of Thunder: How the extreme heat of lightning channels creates massive shock waves across the sky.
1:10 The Hum of the Grid: Analyzing the 60Hz/120Hz fluctuations in US power systems and their effect on incandescent bulbs.
1:30 High-Frequency Switching: How modern phone chargers use high-frequency power conversion to create audible whines.
2:00 Magnetostriction: The phenomenon of microscopic material deformation caused by rapidly changing magnetic fields.
2:20 Corona Discharge: The continuous hiss and crackle produced by localized air expansion under high voltage.
2:50 The Sound of Impact: A concluding thought on how we hear the physical deformation of the world around us.