Thread: Is it possible to be around a sound so loud...

Originally Posted by Marvo

A sound so loud that it will kill you is not a sound anymore, it's a very powerful shockwave, ie. something a huge explosion would cause.

Not unlike a regular low-intensity impulse sound, but on a much greater scale. A shockwave can still be regarded as a tremendously loud sound who's initial oscilation is the most intense (initial being the actual first "bang" of the shockwave), since sound is nothing more than how we percieve variation in air pressure. Is that correct?

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

That's funny.

So when I get older I won't be able to hear mosquitoes? That would be SWEET. There's no more annoying of a sound.

no, mosquito is the name someone gave to the sound which is 16 or 17 KHz, its just a high pitched noise you can download off the internet, and when you get older you cant hear it because when you get older the range of frequencies you can hear decreases.



i dont get how sound (a wave) can creat pressure

Originally Posted by slash112

i dont get how sound (a wave) can creat pressure

All waves transmit momentum, energy, and pressure in their direction of propagation.

Originally Posted by slash112

i dont get how sound (a wave) can creat pressure

The peaks in the wave are equivalent to positive pressure difference, the troughs in the wave are equivalent to negative pressure difference. If you take the note A (or Concert A as it's commonly known), it oscillates at 440 hertz. That means that the pressure fluctuates (however minutely) 440 times in a second. That's also why sounds needs a physical medium to travel through. Space is a vacuum, so sound does not propagate there. Does that make sense?

Originally Posted by invader_tech

The peaks in the wave are equivalent to positive pressure difference, the troughs in the wave are equivalent to negative pressure difference. If you take the note A (or Concert A as it's commonly known), it oscillates at 440 hertz. That means that the pressure fluctuates (however minutely) 440 times in a second. That's also why sounds needs a physical medium to travel through. Space is a vacuum, so sound does not propagate there. Does that make sense?

You haven't explained why pressure only goes in the direction of propagation. I don't think he will understand.

Originally Posted by invader_tech

The peaks in the wave are equivalent to positive pressure difference, the troughs in the wave are equivalent to negative pressure difference. If you take the note A (or Concert A as it's commonly known), it oscillates at 440 hertz. That means that the pressure fluctuates (however minutely) 440 times in a second. That's also why sounds needs a physical medium to travel through. Space is a vacuum, so sound does not propagate there. Does that make sense?

sound waves do not have peaks and troughs. because they are longitudinal waves.

but neither of you have described HOW they do it, i know drewmandan said it transits momentum, energy and pressure, i didnt know they have momentum, i know they have energy, and telling me they transit pressure still doesnt tell me how they do.

Think about what caused the wave: something had to "push" the air molecules. So that's the source of the pressure. Then the first "row" of molecules moves forward and pushes the second row. But then the first row has to return to its original place, so moves the other way. But meanwhile the second row has moved forward and is pushing the third row, etc.

Originally Posted by drewmandan

Think about what caused the wave: something had to "push" the air molecules. So that's the source of the pressure. Then the first "row" of molecules moves forward and pushes the second row. But then the first row has to return to its original place, so moves the other way. But meanwhile the second row has moved forward and is pushing the third row, etc.

oh yea of course, i never thought the whole example of waves using a slinky was so literal. ok i think i get it now

I bet this will be used as a weapon in the future!

Originally Posted by magical mike

I bet this will be used as a weapon in the future!

yea lol, army going out to the battlefield with thier ipods attached to speaker guns.


p.s. this is my 1000th post yaaaay

Originally Posted by magical mike

I bet this will be used as a weapon in the future!

To prove how potent sound waves can be, a selection of unfortunate laboratory animals were placed on the receiving end of this more sinister use of acoustic technology. When high-powered infrasound was directed at the subjects, it caused internal bleeding and even destroyed body tissue. Good news if you happen to be a military scientist looking to develop a sound-wave weapon.

http://www.rense.com/general/soundwaves.htm

Silly little article CluD found horrifying and cruel.

Soundwave weapons? Can't they just use fucking lasers ?

Originally Posted by Marvo

Soundwave weapons? Can't they just use fucking lasers ?

because there arent lasers strong enough to cause any real damage. and if there was, you wouldnt be able to use it as a weapon because it would need an incredible amount of energy and if they got that then it would shoot once and it wouldnt shoot again and if they got past that then god help us all

Originally Posted by Marvo

Soundwave weapons? Can't they just use fucking lasers ?

There's a problem with laser-oriented weaponry called "blooming". The farther away the laser reaches through any physically contaminated medium (air with smog in it, for example), the more the beam spreads and becomes less focused. This effect is amplified with the presence of fog or dust particles hanging around in the air as well, anything that interferes with the direct beam.

Sound has thus far been turned into a simple weapon that has been put to use on some commercial ships for the purpose of deterring pirates. There are other weapons as well that produce "sonic bullets" that are currently still in development. Here's a good article that will introduce you to the basics of acoustic weaponry. http://science.howstuffworks.com/lrad.htm

Still though, few things compare to the pain beam (http://science.howstuffworks.com/pain-beam.htm) which uses a particular frequency in the microwave range. Test subjects have so far stated that it feels like being engulfed in flames or immersed in boiling water, with no residual pain once the victim is no longer being subjected to the beam.

There was also an article on CNN a few years ago about a direct-energy weapon that could successfully paralyze a victim by removing the ability to use their motor functions (without interrupting the heart or lungs) so long as the beam was turned on. It was removed from the site in under 12 hours, but I recall that they've tested it with success at least on chickens, and that it had worked on human beings as well. Maybe someone else can find a new source for that information.

And that's what my tax dollars go towards....

Sound used as weapon against Somalian pirates..

http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

Originally Posted by slash112

no, mosquito is the name someone gave to the sound which is 16 or 17 KHz, its just a high pitched noise you can download off the internet, and when you get older you cant hear it because when you get older the range of frequencies you can hear decreases.



i dont get how sound (a wave) can creat pressure

have you ever stood in the ocean? same principle except with air.
if you stick a tuning fork in water, the water ripples and jumps and shit. the tuning fork is pushing air around at a specific frequency. when this movement in the air happens, it pushes on our eardrums, which then shoot it through our nerves, to our brain.

a guitar string vibrates, moving air at a high frequency. the vibrations in the air are variations in air pressure. stand in front of a really loud subwoofer and you'll feel sound waves creating pressure on your body. and your ears.

Originally Posted by lysergic

have you ever stood in the ocean? same principle except with air.
if you stick a tuning fork in water, the water ripples and jumps and shit. the tuning fork is pushing air around at a specific frequency. when this movement in the air happens, it pushes on our eardrums, which then shoot it through our nerves, to our brain.

a guitar string vibrates, moving air at a high frequency. the vibrations in the air are variations in air pressure. stand in front of a really loud subwoofer and you'll feel sound waves creating pressure on your body. and your ears.

its alright i understand now. but by the way, using subwoofers as an example isnt a good idea, subwoofers use moters aswell as speakers, so some of the things you can feel could come from the motors movement, so its not a fair test. but i get what you mean anyway.