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wolram
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I am sure this is true, traffic sounds louder when its raining, do you find it so?
Danger said:Damp air is denser, and thus conducts sound better. Same reason that someone in your neck of the woods hears things from farther out at sea on a foggy day than on a clear one. I can't help thinking that you are a neighbour to, and close friend of, Shrek, so you must know what I'm talking about.
Proton Soup said:air's also generally colder, which transmits sound better.
Danger said:Damp air is denser,
Borek said:Cool equals dense, I have to remember that.
Danger said:damp air is usually colder than dry air
Andre, really... are you going to tell me that an aeroplane performs as well on a hot day as on a cool one?
jarednjames said:And don't the poles have the driest atmospheric conditions on Earth?
Borek said:No, it is quite damp here.
Edit: hey, you have edited your post!
Danger said:Those are extreme circumstances, Jared. Where I live, it is always colder when damp and I've been led to believe by Brit friends that the same applies to the English countryside where Woolie resides. I might be mistaken about his area, but not mine. I went out for a walk earlier, when it was -8°C, and didn't even take my inhalers with me. It finally got to me after over 5 hours and I had to come home, but I couldn't have lasted even 2 hours in summer.
Proton Soup said:air's also generally colder, which transmits sound better.
sophiecentaur said:If you think of the time needed for one molecule to travel to the neighbouring molecule and then to transfer its momentum (crude mechanical idea but sufficient for this purpose). This tells you the speed at which the 'influence' of vibrations can pass through the air will increase as the molecules travel faster. If the gas density increases then a molecule will meet another molecule in a shorter time but that molecule will need to travel again before it meets a third molecule. The time for the actual 'influence' to travel over a certain distance will, thus, only depend upon the average speed of molecules and not how close they are together.
Furthermore, for solids, the speed of sound depends upon the stiffness (modulus) and the density. Faster for stiffer, slower for more dense. For two substances with the same stiffness, the more dense one will transmit sound slower. If this is counter-intuitive, it's because our experience is that more dense materials are usually / often more stiff.
Gokul43201 said:Also, the discussion about sound velocities is somewhat irrelevant (though it is true that temperature, rather than density, plays the dominant role in determining sound velocity). What matters is sound attenuation.
I guess it comes down to what one means by "traveling better". I would imagine that still refers to sound attenuation rather than speed. In any case, I agree with you about the secondary sounds. We just don't know if wollie is including that in his perception, or if he's just hearing louder vroom-vroom sounds.jarednjames said:The claim regarding sound traveling better in "cold dense air" was made and I simply corrected it. I wasn't implying anything regarding a reason for "traffic being louder in the rain".
Gokul43201 said:I guess it comes down to what one means by "traveling better". I would imagine that still refers to sound attenuation rather than speed.
From the diagrams it can be seen that for the middle of the speech frequency range (2 kHz), the absorption is typically .25 dB/100 m for 30% relative humidity and 20°C (68°F). It should be noted, however, it can be as high as 5 dB/100 m at 8 kHz when the temperature is 20°C and the humidity is 10%.
jarednjames said:So far as Britain goes, not entirely sure what you're on about. The country itself is wet in the Wales/Scotland areas but fairly dry in England. Temperature wise it's a fairly even spread from winter to summer. Nothing that tells me wet = cold.
xxChrisxx said:Hmm, something tells me you are from the south with your irritating clement weather. It's always raining in Manchester.
Atombomb said:Everthing about rain is bad. Bad bad bad. Traffic is louder and slower. Kids can't play outside. Everything is depressing. And poor me still has to take her bike to work!
Yes, it is true that traffic tends to be louder in the rain. This is because the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement and vehicles can amplify the overall noise level.
As mentioned, the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement and vehicles can amplify the overall noise level. Additionally, wet surfaces can reflect sound more effectively than dry surfaces, making the noise seem louder.
Yes, there have been studies that have measured the decibel levels of traffic in both dry and rainy conditions. These studies have shown that traffic noise is indeed louder in the rain.
Yes, the type of road surface can affect how loud traffic is in the rain. For example, a rough or uneven road surface can create more noise than a smooth surface, and this noise can be amplified by the rain.
Yes, heavy rain can make traffic even louder. The intensity of the rain can impact the amount of noise it creates, and heavy rain can also result in more vehicles on the road, adding to the overall noise level.