Sound

Where does sound go?

The simple answer, of course, is that the sounds you hear go into your brain by way of your ears. But what is sound?

When you are listening to pop music, you are the receiving end of sounds. But what is going on at the sending end? The players are making vibrations on their instruments and sending sound waves through the air to you. The point to remember is that sound waves  must have something to carry them. Usually this is air, but it can also be water or the earth under your feet, both of which are better sound wave conductors than air.

The Indians of North America used to put their ears to the ground to hear the sound of their enemies’ horses, when the air gave them no warning. But in a vacuum no sound can be heard. The loudest pop music, if it could be played in a vacuum, would make no noise.

The question “Where does sound go?” can be put another way – “When does sound stop?”. The answer to this one is that sound stops when the vibrations sending out the sound waves come to standstill.