If a Rayleigh disk were suspended in an aligned nematic liquid crystal there would be two torques acting on the disk: one due to the acoustic wave and the other an elastic torque due to the liquid crystal. For a disk of radius 50 μm an acoustic intensity typically of ∠1 mW/cm2would orient the disk at 45° to the direction of the incident wave if the acoustic wave is directed perpendicular to the optic axis of the liquid crystal. The applicability to detection of acoustic fields is noted.Subject Classification: [43]85.35.