Can all Earth sounds be heard if amplified enough?

AI Thread Summary
Sound waves have a natural frequency range that humans can hear, and while amplification can make some sounds audible, it depends on whether those sounds fall within this range. Even if a fly's movements create pressure differentials in the audible frequency range, they may be drowned out by background noise. Sound reinforcement is essential in large venues to ensure that even faint sounds can be heard by the audience. However, excessive amplification could lead to hearing damage. Ultimately, while amplification can enhance sound perception, practical limitations exist due to environmental noise and the nature of sound waves.
ValenceE
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Hello to all,

I've been wondering about sound waves for a while, and here's one question that came up...

Is there a natural limit to sounds being in the audible range... I mean, if we amplify the sounds (edit: the air pressure differences , since I'm not sure they would fall in the sound category) made by a fly 'walking' on some surface, will it be audible ?

Are all Earth sounds audible if amplified enough ?

I know this is a bit crude but I'm sure you get the point ...


Regards,

VE
 
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There is a range of frequencies that we hear, too high of a frequency, and we don't hear it. Dogs hear higher frequencies than us, elephants can hear lower frequencies than us. Kind of just like light, we can't see UV or radio.
 
TR... I'm aware of that but my question still stands, could we hear the fly movin about ?

I'm not wording this question in a proper way, but, I guess what I mean to ask is; if any pressure differential is in the audible frequency range, provided we amplify it enough, we should be able to hear it shouldn't we ?...


VE
 
ValenceE said:
TR... I'm aware of that but my question still stands, could we hear the fly movin about ?

I'm not wording this question in a proper way, but, I guess what I mean to ask is; if any pressure differential is in the audible frequency range, provided we amplify it enough, we should be able to hear it shouldn't we ?...


VE

Yes. If the frequencies are in the auditory range of the human ear. That's why sound reinforcement is necessary in certain applications, aside from some relatively small amphitheaters that are designed acoustically to disperse sound from the stage to the audience. If I'm on the far side of a 100,000-person capacity stadium, there's no way I could hear someone speaking at normal conversation level or playing an acoustic instrument on a stage without sound reinforcement. Sound reinforcement makes this possible.

If you amplify the sound too much, you could quite possibly never hear anything again!
 
As long as air molecules start to move and hits your eardrum there should exist a possibility of you hearing the fly, but in reality that faint noise will disappear in the 'sea' of other moving molecules hitting your ears.

This one could be cool to read.
www . tomdukich . com/weather%20songs%20narrative.html
 
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