Why does sound not move through a wall?Sound waves through a glass filled with liquidHow does sound travel in space?Accelerating faster per second than the speed of sound?The Doppler effect in a medium like air (sound) versus the electromagnetic Doppler effectThe Mysterious Reverb in a Jar of Hair GelWhy doesn't amplitude affect the speed of sound?Atmospheric pressure's effect on soundGrand Canyon Sound Problem TroublesWhy is sound reflected and not transmitted through a wall?Why does sound absorption in oceans depend on the pH?
How should I tell my manager I'm not paying for an optional after work event I'm not going to?
Pressure inside an infinite ocean?
Point of the Dothraki's attack in GoT S8E3?
Should I mention being denied entry to UK due to a confusion in my Visa and Ticket bookings?
29er Road Tire?
Frequency of specific viral sequence in .BAM or .fastq
Introducing Gladys, an intrepid globetrotter
Does the 7th major scale note resolve more strongly to the lower tonic (note 1) than the higher tonic (note 8)?
Has the Hulk always been able to talk?
Building a list of products from the elements in another list
Should homeowners insurance cover the cost of the home?
How to write a 12-bar blues melody
Did the manned NASA capsules rotate during descent?
Are Finitely generated modules over a ring also finitely generated over a subring containing the identity?
Can I use a fetch land to shuffle my deck while the opponent has Ashiok, Dream Render in play?
What was the first sci-fi story to feature the plot "the humans were the monsters all along"?
Can my company stop me from working overtime?
What if the end-user didn't have the required library?
Emotional immaturity of comic-book version of superhero Shazam
What are the differences between credential stuffing and password spraying?
Where is the documentation for this ex command?
I have a unique character that I'm having a problem writing. He's a virus!
Are the Night's Watch still required?
Did we get closer to another plane than we were supposed to, or was the pilot just protecting our delicate sensibilities?
Why does sound not move through a wall?
Sound waves through a glass filled with liquidHow does sound travel in space?Accelerating faster per second than the speed of sound?The Doppler effect in a medium like air (sound) versus the electromagnetic Doppler effectThe Mysterious Reverb in a Jar of Hair GelWhy doesn't amplitude affect the speed of sound?Atmospheric pressure's effect on soundGrand Canyon Sound Problem TroublesWhy is sound reflected and not transmitted through a wall?Why does sound absorption in oceans depend on the pH?
$begingroup$
I'm learning a bit about sound and was wondering:
If the speed of sound is determined by the amount of matter the source is surrounded with why doesn't it go through a wall?
Example:
Speed of sound is 343m/s
But in water, it moves at 1500 m/s, because of the increase of matter surrounding it. And since iron have more tightly packed matter it moves even faster, because it's moving the matter to move the vibrations.
If this is true, why doesn't the sound go through walls?
Is it because it loses its "strength" for the amount it travels?
acoustics
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I'm learning a bit about sound and was wondering:
If the speed of sound is determined by the amount of matter the source is surrounded with why doesn't it go through a wall?
Example:
Speed of sound is 343m/s
But in water, it moves at 1500 m/s, because of the increase of matter surrounding it. And since iron have more tightly packed matter it moves even faster, because it's moving the matter to move the vibrations.
If this is true, why doesn't the sound go through walls?
Is it because it loses its "strength" for the amount it travels?
acoustics
$endgroup$
8
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I'm learning a bit about sound and was wondering:
If the speed of sound is determined by the amount of matter the source is surrounded with why doesn't it go through a wall?
Example:
Speed of sound is 343m/s
But in water, it moves at 1500 m/s, because of the increase of matter surrounding it. And since iron have more tightly packed matter it moves even faster, because it's moving the matter to move the vibrations.
If this is true, why doesn't the sound go through walls?
Is it because it loses its "strength" for the amount it travels?
acoustics
$endgroup$
I'm learning a bit about sound and was wondering:
If the speed of sound is determined by the amount of matter the source is surrounded with why doesn't it go through a wall?
Example:
Speed of sound is 343m/s
But in water, it moves at 1500 m/s, because of the increase of matter surrounding it. And since iron have more tightly packed matter it moves even faster, because it's moving the matter to move the vibrations.
If this is true, why doesn't the sound go through walls?
Is it because it loses its "strength" for the amount it travels?
acoustics
acoustics
edited 41 mins ago
Ghanima
1035
1035
asked 7 hours ago
HeeysamHHeeysamH
15216
15216
8
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago
add a comment |
8
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago
8
8
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Sound doesn't go through walls? Please tell my neighbor.
In electromagnetism, a medium has a property called an "impedance" which is related to the index of refraction and the speed of waves in the medium. At an interface between two media, the relative impedances determine how much of an incoming wave is transmitted or reflected, so that the entire power of the incoming wave goes somewhere. At an "impedance-matched" interface the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In signal cables and waveguides for electromagnetic waves this leads to people adding "terminating resistors" in various places, so that an incoming signal doesn't get reflected back from a cable junction. Conversely, at a junction with an impedance mis-match, the reflection coefficient is generally nonzero and not all of the power is transmitted.
You can do the same sort of analysis for sound waves moving from one medium to another. The reflection and transmission coefficients can depend on the frequency of the wave, as well, which is why my neighbor complains when I have my music turned up too loud: they can hear the low-frequency bass sounds just fine through the wall, but the high-frequency components (that they'd need to follow the lyrics) don't reach them.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound waves are just pressure oscillations; when they strike a surface they are either reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. When they're transmitted, you'll hear them on the other side.
According to Wikipedia, regarding acoustic absorption:
Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect most.
So, walls will reflect the sound waves, as well as absorb them. The effectiveness of this depends on the material properties of the wall, as well as the frequency of the sound (low frequencies travel much easier through plywood, for instance).
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "151"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f477403%2fwhy-does-sound-not-move-through-a-wall%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Sound doesn't go through walls? Please tell my neighbor.
In electromagnetism, a medium has a property called an "impedance" which is related to the index of refraction and the speed of waves in the medium. At an interface between two media, the relative impedances determine how much of an incoming wave is transmitted or reflected, so that the entire power of the incoming wave goes somewhere. At an "impedance-matched" interface the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In signal cables and waveguides for electromagnetic waves this leads to people adding "terminating resistors" in various places, so that an incoming signal doesn't get reflected back from a cable junction. Conversely, at a junction with an impedance mis-match, the reflection coefficient is generally nonzero and not all of the power is transmitted.
You can do the same sort of analysis for sound waves moving from one medium to another. The reflection and transmission coefficients can depend on the frequency of the wave, as well, which is why my neighbor complains when I have my music turned up too loud: they can hear the low-frequency bass sounds just fine through the wall, but the high-frequency components (that they'd need to follow the lyrics) don't reach them.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound doesn't go through walls? Please tell my neighbor.
In electromagnetism, a medium has a property called an "impedance" which is related to the index of refraction and the speed of waves in the medium. At an interface between two media, the relative impedances determine how much of an incoming wave is transmitted or reflected, so that the entire power of the incoming wave goes somewhere. At an "impedance-matched" interface the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In signal cables and waveguides for electromagnetic waves this leads to people adding "terminating resistors" in various places, so that an incoming signal doesn't get reflected back from a cable junction. Conversely, at a junction with an impedance mis-match, the reflection coefficient is generally nonzero and not all of the power is transmitted.
You can do the same sort of analysis for sound waves moving from one medium to another. The reflection and transmission coefficients can depend on the frequency of the wave, as well, which is why my neighbor complains when I have my music turned up too loud: they can hear the low-frequency bass sounds just fine through the wall, but the high-frequency components (that they'd need to follow the lyrics) don't reach them.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound doesn't go through walls? Please tell my neighbor.
In electromagnetism, a medium has a property called an "impedance" which is related to the index of refraction and the speed of waves in the medium. At an interface between two media, the relative impedances determine how much of an incoming wave is transmitted or reflected, so that the entire power of the incoming wave goes somewhere. At an "impedance-matched" interface the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In signal cables and waveguides for electromagnetic waves this leads to people adding "terminating resistors" in various places, so that an incoming signal doesn't get reflected back from a cable junction. Conversely, at a junction with an impedance mis-match, the reflection coefficient is generally nonzero and not all of the power is transmitted.
You can do the same sort of analysis for sound waves moving from one medium to another. The reflection and transmission coefficients can depend on the frequency of the wave, as well, which is why my neighbor complains when I have my music turned up too loud: they can hear the low-frequency bass sounds just fine through the wall, but the high-frequency components (that they'd need to follow the lyrics) don't reach them.
$endgroup$
Sound doesn't go through walls? Please tell my neighbor.
In electromagnetism, a medium has a property called an "impedance" which is related to the index of refraction and the speed of waves in the medium. At an interface between two media, the relative impedances determine how much of an incoming wave is transmitted or reflected, so that the entire power of the incoming wave goes somewhere. At an "impedance-matched" interface the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In signal cables and waveguides for electromagnetic waves this leads to people adding "terminating resistors" in various places, so that an incoming signal doesn't get reflected back from a cable junction. Conversely, at a junction with an impedance mis-match, the reflection coefficient is generally nonzero and not all of the power is transmitted.
You can do the same sort of analysis for sound waves moving from one medium to another. The reflection and transmission coefficients can depend on the frequency of the wave, as well, which is why my neighbor complains when I have my music turned up too loud: they can hear the low-frequency bass sounds just fine through the wall, but the high-frequency components (that they'd need to follow the lyrics) don't reach them.
edited 36 mins ago
answered 7 hours ago
rob♦rob
42k1078175
42k1078175
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound waves are just pressure oscillations; when they strike a surface they are either reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. When they're transmitted, you'll hear them on the other side.
According to Wikipedia, regarding acoustic absorption:
Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect most.
So, walls will reflect the sound waves, as well as absorb them. The effectiveness of this depends on the material properties of the wall, as well as the frequency of the sound (low frequencies travel much easier through plywood, for instance).
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound waves are just pressure oscillations; when they strike a surface they are either reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. When they're transmitted, you'll hear them on the other side.
According to Wikipedia, regarding acoustic absorption:
Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect most.
So, walls will reflect the sound waves, as well as absorb them. The effectiveness of this depends on the material properties of the wall, as well as the frequency of the sound (low frequencies travel much easier through plywood, for instance).
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sound waves are just pressure oscillations; when they strike a surface they are either reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. When they're transmitted, you'll hear them on the other side.
According to Wikipedia, regarding acoustic absorption:
Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect most.
So, walls will reflect the sound waves, as well as absorb them. The effectiveness of this depends on the material properties of the wall, as well as the frequency of the sound (low frequencies travel much easier through plywood, for instance).
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
Sound waves are just pressure oscillations; when they strike a surface they are either reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. When they're transmitted, you'll hear them on the other side.
According to Wikipedia, regarding acoustic absorption:
Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect most.
So, walls will reflect the sound waves, as well as absorb them. The effectiveness of this depends on the material properties of the wall, as well as the frequency of the sound (low frequencies travel much easier through plywood, for instance).
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 1 hour ago
Will CharbonneauWill Charbonneau
311
311
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Will Charbonneau is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Physics Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f477403%2fwhy-does-sound-not-move-through-a-wall%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
8
$begingroup$
Yes the whole wall, or at least a section of it, has to vibrate to transmit the sound. Thus the sound is diminished. But diminished or not, living in an apartment with a noisy neighbor is a nightmare.
$endgroup$
– MaxW
7 hours ago