Sound Facts
Learn some interesting facts about sound that you might not have
known. Understand how sound waves come from vibrations and how your ears give
you the ability to hear them. Find out what the speed of sound is, how sound
relates to music, the meaning of acoustics and much more.
- Sound
comes from vibrations. These vibrations create sound waves which move
through mediums such as air and water before reaching our ears.
- Our
ears vibrate in a similar way to the original source of the vibration,
allowing us to hear many different sounds.
- Dogs can
hear sound at a higher frequency than humans, allowing them to hear noises
that we can’t.
- Sound
is used by many animals to detect danger, warning them of
possible attacks before they happen.
- Sound
can’t travel through a vacuum (an area empty of matter).
- The
speed of sound is around 767 miles per hour (1,230 kilometres
per hour).
- The
loud noise you create by cracking a whip occurs because the tip is moving
so fast it breaks the speed of sound!
- When
traveling through water, sound moves around four times faster than when it
travels through air.
- The
scientific study of sound waves is known as acoustics.
- Although
music can be hard to define, it is often described as a pleasing or
meaningful arrangement of sounds.
- The
sound of thunder is produced by rapidly heated air surrounding lightning
which expands faster than the speed of sound.