The physics behind human whistling-where does the sound come from?

[bungaboo]

The physics behind human whistling--where does the sound come from?

In most whistles, air is split somehow. When humans whistle (by forming a small hole with their lips), this is definitely not the case. I would assume that the mouth is the resonance chamber because pitch can be altered by moving the tongue, palate, etc. However, our mouths are open at BOTH ends. And we can whistle by both exhaling and inhaling. How is it possible that blowing air OUT of our mouths could create enough vibration that then resonates INSIDE out mouths? What is creating the whistling sound, and where, and how?

 

[Drakkith]

Have you read this wiki article?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistling

 

[bungaboo]

I have read it. It is very vague about what is actually happening. I have asked a few physics professors about how whistling works.

One person is absolutely adamant that the vibrations are caused because of the air being pressurized as it goes out the lips, causing the lips to vibrate. Another claims that vibrations are caused outside of the mouth, as the air stream forms vortices that interfere with each other. And another insists that the tongue causes vibrations in the mouth, acting like a reed. Which is it? I'm not crazy about any of these explanations.

 

[bigfooted]

maybe this one is more clear, although still a bit basic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_resonance

The basics is just moving air inside a hollow tube that's closed at one end will do to produce a clear sound. You can only make whistling sounds at the resonance frequencies of your mouth, because only at the resonance frequencies the pressure changes due to the moving air will get amplified. You can change the resonance frequencies by changing the position of your tongue. You can move to higher order resonance frequencies by blowing harder.

The initial pressure oscillations are caused because the air becomes turbulent in the back of your throat and at your lips.

 

[PJC01]

I can explain the physics behind human whistling. When we whistle, we are creating a sound by forcing air through a small opening between our lips. This creates a high-speed jet of air that passes over the edges of our lips, causing them to vibrate. These vibrations then travel through the air as sound waves, which we perceive as a whistle.

The pitch of the whistle is determined by the size and shape of the opening between our lips. By changing the shape of our lips and the position of our tongue and teeth, we can alter the pitch of the whistle. This is similar to how a musician can change the pitch of a note on a wind instrument by changing the position of their fingers or lips.

As for the resonance chamber, our mouths act as a cavity that amplifies the sound produced by the vibrating lips. This is because our mouths are filled with air, which allows sound waves to bounce around and become louder. Additionally, the shape of our mouths can also affect the resonance and pitch of the whistle.

It is possible to create a whistle by both exhaling and inhaling because the process of whistling does not require a continuous flow of air. It only requires a short burst of air to pass over the lips and create the vibrations. This is why we can also create a whistle by sucking in air.

In conclusion, the physics behind human whistling involves creating vibrations in the air by forcing it through a small opening between our lips and amplifying these vibrations in our mouth to produce a sound. The pitch of the whistle is determined by the size and shape of the opening and can be altered by changing the shape of our mouth.