Sound
10 questions tagged Sound — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
Why does my voice sound different on recordings?
When you speak, you hear your voice through the air and through the bones of your skull, which adds deep tones. A recording captures only the air version, so it sounds higher and thinner.
Why do bees buzz?
The buzz is the sound of a bee’s wings beating over 200 times per second, plus vibrations from its flight muscles.
How do speakers make sound?
A speaker turns electrical signals into sound by using a magnet and a coil to vibrate a cone, which pushes air into pressure waves.
How Does Ultrasound Imaging Work?
Ultrasound imaging sends high-frequency sound waves into the body and builds a picture from the echoes that bounce back off tissues.
How Do Crickets Chirp?
Male crickets chirp by rubbing a scraper on one wing against a ridged file on the other, a sound-making method called stridulation.
Why do frogs croak?
Male frogs croak mainly to attract females and warn rival males; each species has its own distinctive call.
Why does thunder happen after lightning?
Light travels much faster than sound, so you see the flash before you hear the boom. The lightning also superheats air, creating a shock wave that we hear as thunder.
How does a microphone work?
A microphone turns sound into electricity: sound waves make a thin diaphragm vibrate, and that movement is converted into a matching electrical signal.
How do car parking sensors work?
Most parking sensors send out ultrasonic sound pulses and time how long the echoes take to bounce back, calculating how close the car is to an obstacle.
Which sea creature is the loudest underwater?
The pistol shrimp is one of the loudest animals relative to size, snapping a claw so fast that it creates a shockwave and a sound over 200 decibels at close range.