Why Can't We Hear: Sound Traveling in Solids

  • Context: High School 
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon of sound transmission in different media, specifically addressing why sound is not heard properly when ears are covered, despite sound traveling faster in solids than in air. The scope includes conceptual understanding and technical reasoning related to sound propagation and absorption in various materials.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that while sound travels faster in solids, it may be absorbed more, leading to reduced audibility when ears are covered.
  • Others argue that the nature of the medium, such as the softness and flexibility of hands, may not effectively conduct sound, as they can block, reflect, or absorb sound waves.
  • One participant points out that the anatomy of the ear is specifically adapted for detecting sound in air, and that covering the ears with a finger reduces the movement of sound waves, thus limiting the sound energy that reaches the inner ear.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the effectiveness of sound transmission through solids versus air, and there is no consensus on the primary reasons for the reduced audibility when ears are covered.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include assumptions about the properties of sound transmission in different materials and the specific anatomical functions of the ear that may not be fully explored.

johncena
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If sound travels faster in solids than in air then why on closing our ears we cannot hear the sound properly?
 
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It may be faster in a solid but be absorbed more. Also, every change in medium tends to absorb/reflect some sound.
 
I'm no sound engineer, but I also doubt that hands make a good sound conductor. They are soft and flexible, and that just doesn't sound good when talking about sound transmission.

As haruspex said, they'll block/ reflect/ absorb most of the sound trying to get through them. But, whatever small fraction of sound that is left over will go through them faster.
 
Land animals spent hundreds of millions of years developing ears that are sensitive to sound vibrations in air. The ear drum is a very light structure which is joined to the inner ear by those little bones (ossicles) and 'matches the vibrations to the actual sensor (cochlea). If you put your massive and absorbant finger in the way, it can't move as freely as the ear drum and only passes a small proportion of the sound energy that hits it. The speed isn't what counts - its the fact that the sound just doesn't get through.
 

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