does sound travel more at night

8 Scientific Reasons Why Does Music Sound Better at Night

I’ve often found myself lost in the rhythm of a song, feeling every beat more intensely as the night deepens. Have you ever wondered why this happens? It’s a fascinating interplay of psychology, acoustics, and our body’s natural rhythms.

The problem is most of us don’t realize how our environment and internal state can dramatically alter our music experience. We’re often so caught up in the hustle and bustle of daytime activities that we miss out on these subtle shifts in perception.

In this blog post, I’ll delve into the science behind why does music sound better at night. So, stick around if you’re a night owl like me, who loves a good tune under the moonlight. This is a nocturnal journey you won’t want to miss.

Table of Contents

Why Does Music Sound Better at Night?

Ever noticed how your favorite song seems to hit differently when you’re listening to it under the cover of darkness? I know I have.

There’s something about the quiet solitude of the night that makes music sound richer, deeper, and more emotionally resonant.

But why is that? Let’s delve into the science and psychology behind this fascinating phenomenon.

1. Reduced Ambient Noise

One of the key reasons why music sounds better at night is the reduction in ambient noise . During the day, our ears are bombarded with many sounds – from the chatter of people and the hum of traffic to the rustling of leaves and birds chirping.

All these sounds create a sort of ‘audio clutter’ that can interfere with our ability to appreciate the music we’re listening to fully.

However, as night falls, the world around us quietens. The hustle and bustle of the day gradually subsides, leaving a serene silence in its wake.

This reduction in ambient noise creates a ‘clean slate’ for our auditory senses, allowing every note, every beat, and every melody of the music to be heard clearly and distinctly.

Here are some key points to consider:

• Clarity of Sound : With less background noise, the clarity of the music is enhanced. We can pick up on subtle nuances and details in the music we might miss during the day.
• Focus on Music : The quiet environment allows us to focus more intently on the music. We can fully immerse ourselves in the auditory experience without other sounds to distract us.
• Heightened Appreciation : Reducing ambient noise can lead to a heightened appreciation of the music. When we can hear the music clearly, we’re more likely to notice and appreciate the skill and artistry involved in its creation.
• Emotional Connection : Music has the power to evoke strong emotions. In a quiet environment, free from distractions, we’re more likely to connect emotionally with the music, enhancing our overall enjoyment.

2. Dimmed Senses

As the day transitions into night, there’s a noticeable shift in our sensory perception. The vibrant visuals of the day give way to the subdued hues of the night, causing our sense of sight to take a backseat. This dimming of our visual sense can profoundly impact our auditory experience.

During the day, our senses are constantly being stimulated. Our eyes are busy taking in the sights around us, our noses are picking up various scents, and our skin is feeling the warmth of the sun or the coolness of the breeze.

All these sensory inputs can distract us from fully immersing ourselves in the music we listen to.

However, at night, these distractions are significantly reduced. The world becomes less visually stimulating, shifting our focus towards our auditory sense. With fewer sensory distractions, we can concentrate more on the music, absorbing every note and melody.

This shift in sensory focus can make the music more intense and engaging. The lyrics become more meaningful, the rhythm more captivating, and the melodies more profound. It’s as if the music can reach out and touch our souls, creating a deep and intimate connection.

Furthermore, this dimming of our senses can also enhance our emotional response to music. In the quiet solitude of the night, we’re more likely to be moved by a poignant lyric or a touching melody.

The music can evoke a range of emotions within us, from joy and happiness to sadness and nostalgia, making the listening experience all the more enriching.

3. Emotional Connection

One of the most profound reasons music sounds better at night is the deep emotional connection we can form. Music has a unique ability to touch our hearts and souls, evoking a wide range of emotions within us.

This emotional response can be significantly amplified at night when we’re more relaxed, reflective, and open to experiencing deep emotions.

During the day, we’re often preoccupied with various tasks and responsibilities. Our minds are busy, and we may not have the mental space to engage with the music we’re listening to fully.

However, at night, when the world slows down, we can truly listen and connect with the music on an emotional level.

• Introspection : Nighttime is often a period of study. In the quiet solitude of the night, we’re more likely to reflect on our feelings and experiences. Music can serve as a soundtrack to these reflective moments, enhancing our emotional connection.
• Mood Enhancement : Music has the power to influence our mood. A lively tune can lift our spirits, while a sad melody can provide solace during sadness. At night, when we’re more in tune with our emotions, the mood-enhancing effects of music can be more pronounced.
• Memory Recall : Music can trigger memories, taking us back to different times. These nostalgic feelings can strengthen at night, adding more emotional depth to our music-listening experience.
• Emotional Release : Listening to music can provide an emotional release. Music allows us to express and process these emotions, Whether we’re happy, sad, stressed, or relaxed. This emotional release can be therapeutic at night, helping us unwind and prepare for a good night’s sleep.

4. Relaxation and Stress Relief

Music is a powerful tool for relaxation and stress relief . After a long, hectic day, there’s nothing like losing yourself in your favorite tunes to help you unwind and de-stress.

This state of relaxation can significantly enhance your enjoyment of music, making it sound better and more fulfilling.

During the day, we often face numerous stressors – work pressures, personal responsibilities, and life’s general hustle and bustle. These stressors can leave us feeling tense and anxious.

However, as night falls and the pace of life slows down, we have the opportunity to relax and let go of the day’s stresses.

Listening to music can aid in this relaxation process. The soothing melodies can calm our minds, the rhythmic beats can slow our racing hearts, and the meaningful lyrics can provide comfort and solace.

As we relax and our stress levels decrease, we can enjoy the music more, appreciating its beauty and artistry.

Here’s a table illustrating how music aids in relaxation and stress relief:

5. Psychological Factors

Various psychological factors significantly influence our enjoyment of music, particularly at night. These factors can alter our perception of music, making it seem more enjoyable and fulfilling.

One of the key psychological factors is the association of nighttime with relaxation and leisure . After a busy day, we often view nighttime as our time to unwind, relax, and indulge in activities we enjoy.

This association can positively influence our perception of music, making it seem more enjoyable during our downtime.

Another important psychological factor is the anticipation of pleasure . Relaxing with our favorite tunes can build up anticipation throughout the day.

This sense of uncertainty can enhance our enjoyment of music, making the listening experience feel more rewarding when we finally indulge in it at night.

• Mental and Emotional State : We’re generally more relaxed and reflective at night. This state of mind can make us more receptive to music’s emotional and cognitive effects, enhancing our connection.
• Sense of Intimacy : The quiet and solitude of the night can create a sense of intimacy. This can make the music-listening experience feel more personal and meaningful as if the music is speaking directly to us.
• Distraction-Free Environment : At night, there are typically fewer distractions. This allows us to focus more on the music, leading to a deeper and more immersive listening experience.
• Memory and Music : Music can powerfully trigger memories and emotions. When we’re more reflective, these effects can be amplified at night, adding depth to our music-listening experience.

6. Melatonin Levels

An often overlooked factor influencing our enjoyment of music at night is our body’s melatonin production. Melatonin, often called the ‘sleep hormone,’ is crucial in regulating our sleep-wake cycle. Interestingly, it can also enhance our emotional response to music, making it seem more moving and impactful.

As daylight fades and darkness sets in, our bodies produce more melatonin. This increase in melatonin levels signals our body that it’s time to relax and prepare for sleep. This state of relaxation can enhance our enjoyment of music, making it sound better.

Furthermore, melatonin can influence our emotional response to music. Research has shown that melatonin can enhance the emotional impact of music, making it seem more moving and profound.

This can make the music-listening experience at night more emotionally fulfilling and enjoyable.

Here’s a table illustrating the impact of melatonin on our music-listening experience:

7. Better Sound Quality

Believe it or not, the time of day can affect sound quality . Certain environmental and atmospheric conditions at night can improve sound quality, enhancing our music-listening experience.

During the day, the air is typically warmer due to the heat from the sun. Sound waves travel faster in warmer air, which can slightly alter how we perceive sound.

However, the air cools at night, which can lead to a slight improvement in sound quality. The sound waves travel at a slightly slower speed in cooler air, which can make the music sound clearer and more balanced.

Furthermore, there’s usually less ambient noise at night – from traffic, people, and other sources. This reduction in background noise can make the music clearer, allowing us to hear every note, beat, and lyric more distinctly.

• Clarity : The reduced background noise and cooler air at night can enhance the clarity of the music. We can hear the music more distinctly, which can improve our enjoyment of it.
• Balance : The slower speed of sound waves in cooler air can improve the balance of the music. The different elements of the music – the vocals, the instruments, the beats – can all be heard more evenly, creating a more balanced sound.
• Detail : With better sound quality, we can pick up on more information in the music. We can hear subtle nuances and intricacies that we might miss with lower sound quality.

8. Personal Preference

At the end of the day, whether music sounds better at night can largely come down to personal preference . We have unique tastes and preferences when it comes to enjoying music. Some prefer listening to music during the day, while others find it more enjoyable at night.

Various factors can influence our preferences, including our daily routines, lifestyle, and emotional and psychological state. For instance, if you’re a night owl who feels more alert and relaxed, you might find that music sounds better during these hours.

On the other hand, if you’re an early bird who enjoys starting your day with uplifting tunes, you might prefer listening to music in the morning.

• Daily Routines : Our daily routines can influence when we prefer to listen to music. If your routine includes a nightly ritual of unwinding with some music, you might find that music sounds better at night.
• Lifestyle : Your lifestyle can also play a role. If you lead a busy life and nighttime is your only chance to relax and listen to music, you might associate music with relaxation and thus find it more enjoyable at night.
• Emotional State : Our emotional state can influence our music preferences. If you find that music helps you de-stress and unwind after a long day, you might find that music sounds better at night.
• Psychological Factors : Psychological factors, such as the association of nighttime with relaxation and leisure, can also influence our preferences.

How the Brain Processes Music Differently at Night?

The way our brain processes music can change based on the time of day, which is particularly noticeable at night. Several factors, including physiological changes, psychological states, and environmental conditions, contribute to this difference.

At night, our bodies begin to prepare for sleep. This involves a shift in our physiological state, including increased melatonin production, a hormone that regulates sleep. This shift towards a more relaxed form can affect how our brain processes music.

We may become more receptive to the emotional content of the piece, experiencing it more intensely. This is because the areas of our brain associated with emotional response, such as the amygdala, can become more active in this relaxed state.

Our psychological state at night can also influence how our brain processes music. We often become more introspective and reflective as we wind down from the day. This state of mind can lead us to engage more deeply with the music, allowing us to connect with it more personally.

We may pay more attention to the lyrics, absorb the melody more fully, and appreciate the nuances of the composition more acutely.

Environmental conditions at night can also affect how our brain processes music. With fewer visual and auditory distractions, our brains can focus more on the music.

This can lead to a more immersive and enjoyable music-listening experience. We may notice details in the piece that we might miss during the day and feel more connected to the music as we can give it our full attention.

Enhancing the Nighttime Music Listening Experience

Music is unique in touching our souls, and the experience can be even more profound at night. If you’re like me and enjoy listening to music in the quiet hours, here are some ways to enhance your nighttime music experience:

• Create a Comfortable Environment : First, ensure you’re comfortable and relaxed. If the weather permits, this could be your bedroom, a cozy living room corner, or outside under the stars. A comfortable environment can help you focus more on the music and less on physical discomfort.
• Use Quality Headphones or Speakers : The quality of your sound equipment can significantly impact your music-listening experience. Investing in a good pair of headphones or speakers can bring out the nuances in the music that you might miss otherwise.
• Choose the Right Music : The type of music you listen to can also affect your experience. Some people find slower, softer music relaxing at night, while others prefer something more upbeat. Experiment with different genres and artists to find what suits your mood and preference.
• Limit Distractions : Try to limit any potential distractions. This might mean turning off your phone, dimming the lights, or asking others in your household to respect your music time. The fewer distractions you have, the more you can immerse yourself in the music.
• Mindful Listening : Practice mindful listening. This involves focusing on the music and observing how it makes you feel, the thoughts it evokes, and the images it brings to mind. Mindful listening can make your music experience more enriching and personal.
• Experiment with Soundscapes : If you’re feeling adventurous, you can experiment with different soundscapes. This could involve adding natural sounds like rain, waves, or forest sounds to your music. There are many apps and websites available that allow you to create your soundscapes.
• Music and Relaxation Techniques : Combine music with relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or meditation. These techniques can help you relax and enhance your music-listening experience.

Remember, everyone’s music experience is unique, and what works for one person might not work for another. The key is to experiment and find what works best for you.

Does music sound faster when you’re tired?

Yes, when you’re tired, your brain’s processing speed can slow down, making music seem to play faster than it is. This is a subjective experience and varies from person to person.

Can your brain listen to music while sleeping?

While your conscious mind is at rest during sleep, your brain is still active and can perceive sounds, including music. However, the extent to which you can process and remember the music can vary depending on the stage of sleep.

Can the nighttime alter our sound perception?

Yes, the quietness of the night can enhance our ability to focus on sounds, including music. This, combined with physiological changes at night, can alter our perception of sound.

Does time of day affect sound perception?

Yes, ambient noise levels, physiological changes, and psychological states can vary throughout the day, influencing how we perceive sound.

Does the type of music affect how it sounds at night?

While the type of music doesn’t objectively change how it sounds at night, your perception and response to different music can vary based on the time of day. Different genres and styles of music can evoke other emotions and reactions, which the nighttime environment and your state of mind can influence.

Final Thoughts

As a night owl and music lover, I’ve often marveled at how melodies seem richer and lyrics more profound under the cloak of darkness.

From the quiet hush that amplifies every note to how our senses sharpen as the world sleeps, it’s a symphony of factors that makes night-time music feel like a private concert.

The science behind it, from melatonin levels to the placebo effect, only adds to the magic. So, whether it’s the rhythm of the rain or the strumming of a guitar, I find that music truly does sound better at night.

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James Dimento is a Chief-in-Editor of SoundUnify. He is a headphone enthusiast and creative writer passionate about audio technology. He has three years of experience writing about headphones and sound quality and is responsible for creating reviews and taking care of all administration.

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by Chris Woodford . Last updated: July 23, 2023.

Photo: Sound is energy we hear made by things that vibrate. Photo by William R. Goodwin courtesy of US Navy and Wikimedia Commons .

What is sound?

Photo: Sensing with sound: Light doesn't travel well through ocean water: over half the light falling on the sea surface is absorbed within the first meter of water; 100m down and only 1 percent of the surface light remains. That's largely why mighty creatures of the deep rely on sound for communication and navigation. Whales, famously, "talk" to one another across entire ocean basins, while dolphins use sound, like bats, for echolocation. Photo by Bill Thompson courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service .

Robert Boyle's classic experiment

Artwork: Robert Boyle's famous experiment with an alarm clock.

How sound travels

Artwork: Sound waves and ocean waves compared. Top: Sound waves are longitudinal waves: the air moves back and forth along the same line as the wave travels, making alternate patterns of compressions and rarefactions. Bottom: Ocean waves are transverse waves: the water moves back and forth at right angles to the line in which the wave travels.

The science of sound waves

Picture: Reflected sound is extremely useful for "seeing" underwater where light doesn't really travel—that's the basic idea behind sonar. Here's a side-scan sonar (reflected sound) image of a World War II boat wrecked on the seabed. Photo courtesy of U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, US Navy, and Wikimedia Commons .

Whispering galleries and amphitheaters

Photos by Carol M. Highsmith: 1) The Capitol in Washington, DC has a whispering gallery inside its dome. Photo credit: The George F. Landegger Collection of District of Columbia Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress , Prints and Photographs Division. 2) It's easy to hear people talking in the curved memorial amphitheater building at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Photo credit: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress , Prints and Photographs Division.

Measuring waves

Understanding amplitude and frequency, why instruments sound different, the speed of sound.

Photo: Breaking through the sound barrier creates a sonic boom. The mist you can see, which is called a condensation cloud, isn't necessarily caused by an aircraft flying supersonic: it can occur at lower speeds too. It happens because moist air condenses due to the shock waves created by the plane. You might expect the plane to compress the air as it slices through. But the shock waves it generates alternately expand and contract the air, producing both compressions and rarefactions. The rarefactions cause very low pressure and it's these that make moisture in the air condense, producing the cloud you see here. Photo by John Gay courtesy of US Navy and Wikimedia Commons .

Why does sound go faster in some things than in others?

Chart: Generally, sound travels faster in solids (right) than in liquids (middle) or gases (left)... but there are exceptions!

How to measure the speed of sound

Sound in practice, if you liked this article..., find out more, on this website.

• Electric guitars
• Speech synthesis
• Synthesizers

On other sites

• Explore Sound : A comprehensive educational site from the Acoustical Society of America, with activities for students of all ages.
• Sound Waves : A great collection of interactive science lessons from the University of Salford, which explains what sound waves are and the different ways in which they behave.

Educational books for younger readers

• Sound (Science in a Flash) by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw. Franklin Watts/Hachette, 2020. Simple facts, experiments, and quizzes fill this book; the visually exciting design will appeal to reluctant readers. Also for ages 7–9.
• Sound by Angela Royston. Raintree, 2017. A basic introduction to sound and musical sounds, including simple activities. Ages 7–9.
• Experimenting with Sound Science Projects by Robert Gardner. Enslow Publishers, 2013. A comprehensive 120-page introduction, running through the science of sound in some detail, with plenty of hands-on projects and activities (including welcome coverage of how to run controlled experiments using the scientific method). Ages 9–12.
• Cool Science: Experiments with Sound and Hearing by Chris Woodford. Gareth Stevens Inc, 2010. One of my own books, this is a short introduction to sound through practical activities, for ages 9–12.
• Adventures in Sound with Max Axiom, Super Scientist by Emily Sohn. Capstone, 2007. The original, graphic novel (comic book) format should appeal to reluctant readers. Ages 8–10.

Popular science

• The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World by Trevor Cox. W. W. Norton, 2014. An entertaining tour through everyday sound science.

Academic books

• Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest and Ken Pohlmann. McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. A comprehensive reference for undergraduates and sound-design professionals.
• The Science of Sound by Thomas D. Rossing, Paul A. Wheeler, and F. Richard Moore. Pearson, 2013. One of the most popular general undergraduate texts.

Text copyright © Chris Woodford 2009, 2021. All rights reserved. Full copyright notice and terms of use .

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How Far Does Sound Travel: The Science of Acoustics

Do you ever stop to think about how sound travels? It’s an interesting phenomenon that occurs everyday and yet we often take it for granted. In this blog post, we will explore the science of acoustics and how sound travels. We will answer the question of how far sound can travel and how it is affected by different factors. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at this fascinating topic!

Nature Of Sound

Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through some medium, such as air or water. Sound can propagate through solids and liquids better than gases because the density and stiffness are greater. So how far does sound travel? In this article we will answer how sound travels and how to calculate how far it travels in different scenarios.

Sound Transmits Conception

A common misconception with regard to how sound transmits itself between two points (for example from speaker to ear) is that the source creates waves of compression in the surrounding gas which then proceed on their way at a constant speed until they strike something else; either another solid object or our ears . This analogy might be okay for describing what goes on at low frequencies but once we go beyond around 1000 Hz, the propagation of sound becomes far more complex.

At low frequencies (below around 1000 Hz), sound waves tend to travel in all directions more or less equally and bounce off objects like a rubber ball would. As frequency increases however, the directivity of sound increases as well. So high-frequency sounds are more likely to travel in a straight line between two points than low frequencies. This is why we can often hear someone calling from some distance away when there is loud music playing – because the higher frequencies carry further than the lower ones.

How Far Can Sound Travel

There are three ways that sound can be transmitted: through air, through water, or through solids. The speed of sound through each medium is different and depends on the density and stiffness of the material.

The speed of sound through air is about 343 m/s (or 760 mph), and it travels faster in warmer air than colder air. The speed of sound through water is about 1500 m/s, and it travels faster in salt water than fresh water. The speed of sound through solids is much faster than through either gases or liquids – about 5000-15000 m/s. This is why we can often hear someone coming before we see them – the sound waves are travelling through the solid ground to our ears!

Now that we know how sound propagates and how its speed depends on the medium, let’s take a look at how to calculate how far it will travel between two points. We can use the equation

distance = speed x time

For example, if we want to know how far a sound will travel in one second, we have:

distance = 343 m/s x 0.001 s = 343 m

So sound travels 1 kilometer in roughly 3 seconds and 1 mile in roughly 5 seconds.

Does Вecibel Level affect the Sound Distance?

The surface area around a sound source’s location grows with the square of the distance from the source. This implies that the same amount of sound energy is dispersed over a larger surface, and that the energy intensity decreases as the square of the distance from the source (Inverse Square Law).

Experts of Acoustical control says, that

For every doubling of distance, the sound level reduces by 6  decibels  (dB), (e.g. moving from 10 to 20 metres away from a sound source). But the next 6dB reduction means moving from 20 to 40 metres, then from 40 to 80 metres for a further 6dB reduction.

How Far Can Sound Travel In Real World

In real world, there are many factors that can affect how far a sound travels. Factors such as air density, temperature and humidity have an impact on its propagation; obstacles like buildings or mountains could also block some frequencies from going through while letting others pass (this happens because at high frequencies they behave more like waves).

Sounds can propagate through solids better than they can propagate through air because their density/stiffness are greater (this means that sound travels faster). In addition to this, we also know that it takes less time for a high frequency wave to reach us from its source compared with low frequencies. For example if there’s some kind of obstacle blocking our path then it might take longer for waves at higher frequencies than those below 1000 Hz to past them.

Can Sound Waves Travel Infinitely?

No. The higher the frequency of a sound wave, the shorter its wavelength becomes. As wavelength decreases, the amount of energy in a sound wave also decreases and eventually it dissipates completely. This is why we often can’t hear someone calling from very far away when there’s loud music playing – because the high frequencies are being blocked out by all the noise!

Can Sound Travel 20 Miles?

The air may be permeable to these lower-frequency, sub-audible sound waves generated by elephants. Some whale species’ frequencies might travel through seawater for 1500 kilometers or 900 miles.

How Far Can a Human Scream Travel?

The normal intelligible outdoor range of the male human voice in still air is 180 m (590 ft 6.6 in).

The Guiness World Record of the Farthest distance travelled by a human voice belongs the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the Canary Island of La Gomera, is intelligible under ideal conditions at 8 km (5 miles).

In Conclusion

At the end of this blog post, you should have a better understanding of how sound travel and what factors affect it. If you want to learn more about acoustics and sounds, you can check out our resources here.

• Why PS4 Is So Loud and How to Fix It
• Best Quiet Electric Toothbrush – Buyer’s Guide

Ocean Noise Pollution: What Is It?

Ways to Reduce Noise Pollution in Your Life

Top 8 Organizations Against Noise Pollution

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Traveling waves

17 How sound moves

Speed of sound.

There’s a delay between when a sound is created and when it is heard. In everyday life, the delay is usually too short to notice. However, the delay can be noticeable if the distance between source and detector is large enough. You see lightning before you hear the thunder. If you’ve sat in the outfield seats in a baseball stadium, you’ve experienced the delay between seeing the player hit the ball and the sound of the “whack.” Life experiences tell us that sound travels fast, but not nearly as fast as light does. Careful experiments confirm this idea.

The speed of sound in air is roughly 340 m/s. The actual value depends somewhat on the temperature and humidity. In everyday terms, sound travels about the length of three and a half foot ball fields every second- about 50% faster than a Boeing 747 (roughly 250 m/s). This may seem fast, but it’s tiny compared to light, which travels roughly a million times faster than sound (roughly 300,000,000 m/s).

Sound requires some material in which to propagate (i.e. travel). This material sound travels through is called the medium . You can show that sound requires a medium by putting a cell phone inside a glass jar connected to a vacuum pump. As the air is removed from the jar, the cell phone’s ringer gets quieter and quieter. A youTube video (2:05 min) produced by the UNSW PhysClips project shows the demo with a drumming toy monkey [1] instead of a cell phone.

What affects the speed of sound?

Sound travels at different speeds though different materials. The physical properties of the medium are the only factors that affect the speed of sound- nothing else matters.

The speed of sound in a material is determined mainly by two properties- the stiffness of the material and the density of the material. Sound travels fastest through materials that are stiff and light. In general, sound travels fastest through solids, slower through liquids and slowest through gasses. (See the table on this page). This may seem backwards- after all, metals are quite dense. However, the high density of metals is more than offset by far greater stiffness (compared to liquids and solids).

The speed of sound in air depends mainly on temperature. The speed of sound is 331 m/s in dry air at 0 o Celsius and increases slightly with temperature- about 0.6 m/s for every 1 o Celsius for temperatures commonly found on Earth. Though speed of sound in air also depends on humidity, the effect is tiny- sound travels only about 1 m/s faster in air with 100% humidity air at 20 o C than it does in completely dry air at the same temperature.

Nothing else matters

The properties of the medium are the only factors that affect the speed of sound- nothing else matters.

Frequency of the sound does not matter- high frequency sounds travel at the same speed as low frequency sounds. If you’ve ever listened to music, you’ve witnessed this-  the low notes and the high notes that were made simultaneously reach you simultaneously, even if you are far from the stage. If you’ve heard someone shout from across a field, you’ve noticed that the entire shout sound (which contains many different frequencies at once) reaches you at the same time. If different frequencies traveled at different rates, some frequencies would arrive before others.

The amplitude of the sound does not matter- loud sounds and quiet ones travel at the same speed. Whisper or yell- it doesn’t matter. The sound still takes the same amount of time to reach the listener.  You’ve probably heard that you can figure out how far away the lightning by counting the seconds between when you see lightning and hear thunder. If the speed of sound depended on loudness, this rule of thumb would have to account for loudness- yet there is nothing in the rule about loud vs. quiet thunder. The rule of thumb works the same for all thunder- regardless of loudness . That’s because the speed of sound doesn’t depend on amplitude.

Stop to thinks

• Which takes longer to cross a football field: the sound of a high pitched chirp emitted by a fruit bat or the (relatively) low pitched sound emitted by a trumpet?
• Which sound takes longer to travel 100 meters: the sound of a snapping twig in the forest or the sound of a gunshot?
• Which takes longer to travel the distance of a football field: the low pitched sound of a whale or the somewhat higher pitched sound of a human being?

Constant speed

Sound travels at a constant speed. Sound does not speed up or slow down as it travels (unless the properties of the material the sound is going through changes). I know what you’re thinking- how is that possible? Sounds die out as they travel, right? True. That means sounds must slow down and come to a stop, right? Wrong. As sound travels, its amplitude decreases- but that’s not the same thing as slowing down. Sound (in air) covers roughly 340 meters each and every second, even as its amplitude shrinks. Eventually, the amplitude gets small enough that the sound is undetectable. A sound’s amplitude shrinks as it travels, but its speed remains constant.

The basic equation for constant speed motion (shown below) applies to sound.

[latex]d=vt[/latex]

In this equation, [latex]d[/latex] represents the distance traveled by the sound, [latex]t[/latex] represents the amount of time it took to go that distance and [latex]v[/latex] represents the speed.

Rule of thumb for lightning example

Example: thunder and lightning.

The rule of thumb for figuring out how far away a lightning strike is from you is this:

Count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Divide the number of seconds by five to find out how many miles away the lightning hit.

According to this rule, what is the speed of sound in air? How does the speed of sound implied by this rule compare to 340 m/s?

Identify important physics concept :   This question is about speed of sound.

List known and unknown quantities (with letter names and units):

At first glance, it doesn’t look like there’s enough information to solve the problem. We were asked to find speed, but not given either a time or a distance. However, the problem does allow us to figure out a distance if we know the time- “Divide the number of seconds by five to find out how many miles away the lightning hit.” So, let’s make up a time and see what happens; if the time is 10 seconds, the rule of thumb says that the distance should be 2 miles.

[latex]v= \: ?[/latex]

[latex]d=2 \: miles[/latex]

[latex]t=10 \: seconds[/latex]

You might ask “Is making stuff up OK here?” The answer is YES! If the rule of thumb is right, it should work no matter what time we choose. (To check if the rule is OK, we should probably test it with more than just one distance-time combination, but we’ll assume the rule is OK for now).

Do the algebra:  The equation is already solved for speed. Move on to the next step.

Do unit conversions (if needed) then plug in numbers:  If you just plug in the numbers, the speed comes out in miles per second:

[latex]v = \frac{2 \: miles} {10 \: seconds}=0.2 \: \frac{miles} {second}[/latex]

We are asked to compare this speed to 340 m/s, so a unit conversion is in order; since there are 1609 meters in a mile:

[latex]v =0.2 \: \frac{miles} {second}*\frac{1609 \: meters} {1 \:mile}=320 \frac{m}{s}[/latex]

Reflect on the answer:

• The answer for speed from the rule of thumb is less than 10% off the actual value of roughly 340 m/s- surprisingly close!
• At the beginning, we assumed a time of 10 seconds. Does the result hold up for other choices? A quick check shows that it does! For instance, if we use a time of 5 seconds, the rule of thumb gives a distance of 1 mile, and the math still gives a speed of 0.2 miles/second. The speed will be the same no matter what time we pick. The reason is this:  The more time it takes the thunder to arrive, the farther away the lightning strike is, but the speed remains the same. In the equation for speed, both time and distance change by the same factor and the overall fraction remains unchanged.

Stop to think answers

• Both sounds take the same amount of time. (High and low pitched sounds travel at the same speed).
• Both sounds take the same amount of time. (Quiet sounds and loud sounds travel at the same speed).
• The sound of the whale travels the distance in less time- assuming sound from the whale travels in water and sound from the human travels in air. Sound travels faster in water than in air. (The info about frequency was given just to throw you off- frequency doesn’t matter).
• Wolfe, J. (2014, February 20). Properties of Sound. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8-govgAffY ↵

Understanding Sound Copyright © by dsa2gamba and abbottds is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Refraction of Sound Waves & Acoustic Shadows Explained

This article was written by Mike Bannon

Close your eyes for a moment and pretend you are picnicking, during the mid-afternoon, with family and friends in Central Park. About a two football fields away you can see a softball game. You can see the men and women cheering as ballplayers smack the ball and race around the bases. You see a player slide into home plate and you watch the umpire signal him out. You can see all this action, but you cannot hear it.

Later that night as the temperature cools and other softball teams are playing under the lights you can see and hear everything clearly. Why is this so? Could it be, during the day, you were situated in an acoustic shadow?

During the day the sun heats up the earth’s surface, warming the air close to the ground. Sound travels faster in warmer air. So the sound travels faster in the air close to the ground. The reverse happens at night. At night the ground cools quickly. The higher air is warmer than the air close to the ground. During the day the sound travels faster near the ground. This causes the sound wave to refract upwards. At night the opposite happens. The sound further from the ground travels faster at night causing the sound wave to refract back towards the earth.

In the 1800s Osborne Reynolds performed the first sound wave refraction recorded test. He placed a ringing bell, one foot above the ground, and crawled twenty yards. He had to lift his head in order to hear the ringing sound. He then crawled seventy yards and had to stand before he could hear the ringing sound.

In 2001 Charles D. Ross published a book called Civil War Acoustic Shadows . In this article we are going to explore the phenomenon of sound wave refraction and how it relates to the sounds of war the formation of acoustic shadows.

Downward Sound Wave Refraction

In the early 20 th century, with the use of hot air balloons, scientists started to learn more about our atmosphere and its different layers. In 1923 atmospheric temperature changes were documented while studying meteors. In 1924 Erwin Schrodinger, a Nobel-Prize winning Austrian Physicist, suggested that “low-frequency sounds would be absorbed less in the atmosphere and would therefore be refracted back to earth more strongly than high frequency sounds”.

The layers that house our ozone tend to be warmer due to the captured radiation from the sun. When the sound wave hits this warmer layer, it’s refracted back towards the earth.

Wind also plays an important role in the refraction of sound waves and ultimately on the distance they travel. Wind traveling directly into an oncoming sound wave will make it refract upward more sharply. Wind traveling in the same direction as a sound wave will make the sound wave refraction more gradual. In the upper atmosphere a strong wind traveling in the direction of the wave will push the wave further and faster.

Sound Wave Refraction & War

During the first World War, on the 28 th of September 1914, German artillery began shelling the Belgian city of Antwerp and the fortifications that protected the city. The acoustic shadow zone started approximately thirty miles from the artillery and ended at about sixty miles away. After the sixty-mile mark, the German artillery bombardment was heard. The people within the thirty to sixty mile radius of the artillery could not hear it.

At Gettysburg July 2 nd 1863 General Lee issues a command for Lieutenant General James Longstreet to attack the round tops – the south end of cemetery ridge. The hill top was virtually undefended. Lee hoped to get his cannons to the round tops so the confederates could bombard the union troops with cannon fire. Upon hearing Longstreet’s attack, Lieutenant General Richard Ewell was to attack from the left. He was to order his men to attack as soon as he heard Longstreet’s barrage of cannon fire. He never heard Longstreet’s cannons. Ewell and his army found themselves situated in an acoustic shadow. Meanwhile, the Union’s Major General George Meade moved men from his right to his left to stop Longstreet’s advance.

General Lee's "Waterloo"

In 1865 Lee had his army situated outside the city of Petersburg Virginia. Lee correctly guessed that Grant would look to attack his right flank. Lee sent General George Picket with the army of northern Virginia, five thousand confederate soldiers, down to Five Forks to dig in and set up dirt and wood defenses. Lee understood the need to hold this area in order to protect his southern supply railroad open.

Grant knew this strategic importance and sent his Union Major General Phillip Sheridan to attack Lee’s left flank at the Five Forks. On the morning of the attack, confederate Major General Fitzhugh Lee invited Picket along with Major General Thomas Rosser to a fish bake two miles away from Picket’s front line. Picket neglected to tell him men that he was leaving. Historians speculate that he did not tell him men, who were probably hungry and malnourished, because he felt guilty.

The confederates suffered a major defeat — one that would accelerate the coming end of the civil war. Picket and his commanders were caught in an acoustic shadow. That afternoon while the generals thought they were enjoying a quiet uneventful relaxing fish bake, their world was collapsing.

Nuclear Bomb Tests

Calculating Sound Speed in Different Temperatures

The speed of sound at 0 degrees Celsius is 331 m/s. For each 1 degree Celsius added the speed of sound increases. Here is the formula for calculating the increase in speed:

C = (331 + 0.6 T )m/s

C  = the new speed of sound

T  = the air temperature in degrees Celsius

To calculate the speed of sound in air at 30 degrees:

C  = (331 + 0.6 × 30) = 349 m/s

At 30 degrees Celsius, the speed of sound is 349 m/s.

When environmental engineers look to minimize industrial noise to surrounding communities they must consider the concept of sound wave refraction and its acoustic shadow effect. Industrial noise, in areas immediately surrounding the factories, will be greater at night than during the day.

Take a look at the oil refinery in the photo below. The surrounding community will hear little of the sounds emitted from the stacks high above the refinery during the day. The sound waves from these sources will ultimate refract upward. Communities located many kilometers away will here this noise. However, during the night is a different story. These waves will be refracted right onto the community.

Let’s say a stack is emitting sound wave 20 meters above the ground. Engineers need to calculate the angle of refraction in order to determine how to best combat this phenomena and ultimately reduce decibel levels to surrounding community. In a follow up article, "Proposed Math for Refracting Sound Waves," we will propose new math used to calculate the and angle of refracting (bending) of sound waves. Later this year, we also intend to conduct an experiment similar to the one performed by Osborne Reynolds in the 1800's. Look for this article sometime in September, 2015.

Mike Bannon

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Discover the Science Behind the Phenomenon of Faster Music Perception at Night

• Publish on February 10, 2023

Dan Wallace

ELI5: Music can sound faster at night because of the way our bodies interact with sound waves in the dark. When we're in a dark environment, our brains become more sensitive to sound frequencies. This means that sound waves travel faster and reach our ears more quickly, making the music sound faster. To illustrate this, imagine a person walking through a forest at night. They might feel as if they're walking faster than normal because the darkness amplifies the sound of their footsteps. Similarly, music can sound faster when we're in a dark environment.

TLDR / Key Takeaways

Key Takeaways: 

• Music can sound faster at night due to environmental factors such as the way sound waves travel and the listener’s heightened state of alertness.
• Sound waves travel faster in cooler temperatures and at night, sound waves can travel farther and faster.
• People’s heightened alertness at night can cause them to perceive music as faster. 4. Music tempo can be affected by the listener’s mood and environment.
• The type of music and the sound system used to play it can also affect how fast it sounds.

It’s a well-known fact that music can be perceived differently depending on the time of day.

But what is the science behind this phenomenon? In this blog post, we’ll explore the concept of faster music perception at night and uncover the science that explains it.

Our brains are wired to process sound differently depending on the time of day.

During the day, our brains are more alert and better able to detect subtle changes in sound, leading to a heightened sense of music perception.

At night, however, our brains are in a more relaxed state, leading to a faster perception of music.

This phenomenon has been studied in-depth by researchers, who have found that the brain’s processing speed is directly related to our circadian rhythms.

During the day, our brains are more alert and better able to process sound, leading to a heightened sense of music perception.

At night, our brains are in a more relaxed state, leading to a faster perception of music.

By understanding the science behind this phenomenon, we can better understand how our brains process sound and how we perceive music.

Join us as we explore the science behind faster music perception at night and uncover the mysteries of our brains.

What is the Phenomenon of Faster Music Perception at Night?

The phenomenon of faster music perception at night is an intriguing concept that has been studied by scientists for decades.

Put simply, it is the idea that people can process and comprehend music more quickly and accurately when it is heard at night.

This phenomenon has been observed in a variety of contexts, from classical music to pop songs.

At its core, the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is rooted in the human body’s natural circadian rhythms.

Circadian rhythms are biological cycles that govern our physical and mental processes, including our sleep-wake cycle.

When our body is in a state of rest, it is better able to focus on auditory tasks such as listening to music.

This is why most people find it easier to concentrate on music at night, when the body is in a relaxed state.

In addition to the body’s natural circadian rhythms, research has also found that our brains are more sensitive to music at night.

Studies have demonstrated that during the night, the auditory cortex (the region of the brain responsible for processing sound) is more active than during the day.

This heightened activity allows us to process music more quickly and accurately.

Furthermore, research has found that our emotional responses to music are also heightened at night.

Studies have shown that people experience more intense emotional reactions to music when they listen to it at night.

This could explain why some people find it easier to appreciate and enjoy music late at night.

What Causes this Phenomenon?

The phenomenon of faster music perception at night is an intriguing one that has been studied by scientists for decades.

Put simply, it is the idea that people can perceive music more quickly when they are listening to it at night than when they are listening to it during the day.

To understand this phenomenon, it is important to first understand the concept of temporal resolution.

This is the ability to accurately perceive and differentiate between different sounds in a short period of time.

People with higher temporal resolution are able to pick up on subtle changes in sound more quickly than people with lower temporal resolution.

Studies have shown that there is a correlation between temporal resolution and time of day.

When people are tested in the evening, their temporal resolution is higher than when they are tested during the day.

This means that people can perceive music more quickly at night than during the day.

The reason for this phenomenon is still not fully understood.

Some scientists believe that it is due to the body’s natural circadian rhythms.

During the day, the body is more alert and active, which can lead to slower processing of sound.

At night, however, the body is in a more relaxed state, which can lead to faster processing of sound.

Another possible explanation is that people are more attentive at night.

This could lead to more focused listening and better temporal resolution.

Additionally, people may be more likely to focus on the music at night, as there are fewer distractions than during the day.

Whatever the cause, the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is fascinating.

It has implications for both music education and performance, as people can learn and play music more quickly when they are listening to it at night.

Understanding this phenomenon can also help us better understand our own cognitive abilities and how they are affected by the time of day.

The Science Behind the Phenomenon

Have you ever noticed that you can perceive music faster at night? It’s a phenomenon that has puzzled many, but science is beginning to uncover the reasons behind it.

In this article, we will explore the science behind the phenomenon of faster music perception at night.

At its core, the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is a result of our circadian rhythms.

Circadian rhythms are the body’s natural processes that regulate hormones, body temperature, and other functions.

As the day progresses, our bodies start to slow down and prepare for sleep.

This slowdown is accompanied by a decrease in our alertness, concentration, and attention.

As a result, we tend to process information more quickly and accurately when we are in a relaxed state.

The science behind the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is further supported by research conducted by the University of Oxford.

In their study, researchers found that when participants listened to a piece of music at night, they were able to identify the melody and the key of the song faster than when they listened to the same piece of music during the day.

This suggests that our brains are more attuned to music at night, allowing us to process it faster.

In addition, research has also found that our brains are more attuned to music during the night because of the release of certain hormones.

Specifically, the hormone melatonin is released in the evening and it has been found to increase our sensitivity to sound.

This heightened sensitivity allows us to process music more quickly and accurately at night.

Finally, our brains are also better equipped to process music at night due to the fact that our brains are more relaxed.

When we are in a relaxed state, our brains are better able to focus on the task at hand, allowing us to process information faster and more accurately.

In conclusion, the science behind the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is complex and multifaceted.

Our circadian rhythms, the release of melatonin, and our relaxed state all contribute to our ability to process music more quickly and accurately at night.

As more research is conducted, we may be able to uncover even more of the mysteries behind this phenomenon.

How Does Music Perception Change at Night?

It is well known that the perception of music changes depending on the time of day.

During the day, music is often perceived as more upbeat and energetic, while at night, music is often perceived as slower and more calming.

But why is this the case? The answer lies in the science behind music perception.

When we listen to music, our brains are processing the sound waves and interpreting them as musical notes.

During the day, our brains are more alert and active, allowing us to process and interpret the sound waves more quickly and accurately.

This leads to a faster perception of the music, making it appear more upbeat and energetic.

At night, however, our brains are in a more relaxed state.

This means that our brains take longer to process and interpret the sound waves, resulting in a slower perception of the music.

This slower perception of the music can make it seem more calming and soothing.

This phenomenon is further supported by research conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles.

A study conducted by the university found that participants who listened to music at night had a slower perception of the music compared to those who listened to music during the day.

The study also found that the slower perception of the music at night was associated with a more relaxed state of mind.

The Role of Attention and Arousal

When it comes to the phenomenon of faster music perception at night, the role of attention and arousal is an important factor to consider.

Attention is defined as the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a specific stimulus, while arousal is a physiological state of alertness and readiness for action.

Research has shown that attention and arousal levels increase at night, which can explain why people perceive music faster in the evening.

Studies have found that when people are in a state of heightened alertness, they are more likely to be able to process information quickly and accurately.

For example, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto found that participants were able to identify musical patterns more quickly when they were in a state of higher arousal.

The role of attention and arousal in music perception is also linked to the concept of the “cocktail party effect”.

This phenomenon occurs when people are able to selectively focus on one conversation in a noisy environment.

Similarly, when people are in a state of heightened alertness, they are able to focus on a particular sound or piece of music and ignore other auditory distractions.

Finally, the role of attention and arousal in music perception is also related to the concept of “priming”.

Priming is a psychological phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus.

For example, a study conducted by researchers at the University of California found that when participants were exposed to a particular piece of music prior to hearing a new piece of music, they were able to recognize the new piece of music quicker.

The Impact of Cognitive Resources

It is well known that our cognitive resources are limited and can be affected by a variety of factors, including time of day.

This phenomenon is especially relevant when considering the phenomenon of faster music perception at night.

Research has shown that when individuals listen to music at night, they are able to process the music more quickly than during the day.

This phenomenon is due to the fact that cognitive resources tend to be more readily available at night, allowing the listener to take in more information in a shorter amount of time.

The impact of cognitive resources on music perception can be seen in a variety of ways.

For example, a study conducted by the University of Vienna found that participants who listened to music at night were able to identify musical patterns more quickly than those who listened during the day.

This suggests that cognitive resources are more easily accessed at night, allowing the listener to process the music more efficiently.

In addition to the impact of cognitive resources on music perception, research has also shown that cognitive resources can affect our ability to remember what we hear.

Studies have found that when individuals listen to music at night, they are able to recall more of the music than when they listen during the day.

This indicates that cognitive resources are more available at night, allowing the listener to store more information in their memory.

Finally, cognitive resources have been found to have an impact on our ability to focus.

Studies have shown that when individuals listen to music at night, they are able to concentrate more effectively than when they listen during the day.

This suggests that cognitive resources are more readily available at night, allowing the listener to remain focused on the music for a longer period of time.

Overall, research has demonstrated that cognitive resources have a significant impact on our ability to process and remember music.

By having more cognitive resources available at night, individuals are able to take in more information in a shorter amount of time and store it in their memory more effectively.

This phenomenon is key to understanding the science behind the phenomenon of faster music perception at night.

The Role of Biological Rhythms

The phenomenon of faster music perception at night is often attributed to the role of biological rhythms.

Biological rhythms, also known as circadian rhythms, refer to the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour cycle.

These rhythms are regulated by an internal biological clock and are greatly influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness.

Studies have shown that the human body’s internal clock is closely linked to the circadian rhythms.

Our bodies naturally go through different stages of alertness and sleepiness throughout the day, and these stages are regulated by biological rhythms.

During the day, when light is present, our bodies are more alert and ready to take on tasks.

At night, when the environment is dark, the body is more relaxed and ready for rest.

The role of biological rhythms in faster music perception at night is thought to be related to the body’s natural state of relaxation.

When the body is in a relaxed state, it is more receptive to auditory stimuli, allowing for faster music perception.

This is why many people find it easier to listen to and appreciate music in the evening, when their bodies are naturally more relaxed.

Another factor that may contribute to faster music perception at night is the presence of melatonin.

Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the body and helps regulate sleep.

Studies have found that when melatonin levels are higher, people are more likely to experience faster music perception.

Overall, the role of biological rhythms in faster music perception at night is an important factor to consider.

By understanding the body’s natural cycles and how they affect our ability to perceive music, we can better appreciate the beauty of music in the evening hours.

The science behind the phenomenon of faster music perception at night is truly fascinating.

It has been demonstrated through the use of EEG technology that our brains process music differently when we are exposed to it in the evening.

It is believed that this is due to the fact that our brains are more relaxed at night and therefore more open to new stimuli.

This may explain why many people find it easier to learn new music or remember lyrics when they are exposed to it in the evening.

Ultimately, this phenomenon is yet another example of the fascinating way our brains work and how they can be affected by our environment.

“Study Finds Listening to Music Before Bed Can Worsen Your Sleep by Inducing Long-Lasting Earworms.” PsyPost, 2021, www.psypost.org/2021/11/study-finds-listening-to-music-before-bed-can-worsen-your-sleep-by-inducing-long-lasting-earworms-62077 .

“Longwood Seminar Music Reading Pack.” Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, 2021, hms.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/assets/Sites/Longwood_Seminars/Longwood%20Seminar%20Music%20Reading%20Pack.pdf.

“Why Does the Same Music Sound Faster Sometimes?” New Rising Media, 2018, www.newrisingmedia.com/blog/2018/10/7/why-does-the-same-music-sound-faster-sometimes .

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Sound travels further in cold weather. here's why.

by David Moran , on Jan 21, 2019 1:54:11 PM

My grandparents live in a small town in Kansas close to a railroad. When I visit them during the winter, I can hear approaching trains more clearly than when I'm there during the summer. Have you noticed this where you live?

The speed of sound is 343 meters per second or 767 mph. This value presumes that the observer is at sea level with a room temperature of 21°C (70°F). However, as temperature increases, so does the speed of sound. Let's have a look:

While maybe slower, sound can travel further distances when it is colder. The increase in range is caused by an inversion, which happens when warm air traps cold air near the ground. Instead of the sound wave being transmitted in a single direction, it is refracted away from the warmer air aloft and back towards the surface. The wave then oscillates between the interface of the colder air, the overlying warmer air, and the ground. Snow cover can dampen sounds that you may observe otherwise. 

As the sound waves are refracted toward the ground, the amplitude of those waves increases. Then, as the amplitude of the wave increases, so does the intensity of the sound being produced by the wave. Whether it is the sound of a train horn or that of an avalanche, when the weather is cold, you will hear that noise at a much further distance than during other times of the year.

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The refraction of sound in hot and cold air

The speed of sound is greater in hot air than it is in cold air. This is because the molecules of air are moving faster and the vibrations of the sound wave can therefore be transmitted faster. This means that when sound travels from hot air to cold air or from cold air to hot air it will refract. You can notice this on a hot day or a cold night.

I noticed a very interesting effect produced by the change of speed of sound in air of different temperatures when I was singing in a carol service in Wells Cathedral in Somerset in the UK. It was a clear starry night and the great stone walls of the cathedral were cold. At the end of one of the choir pieces the sound travelled away into the darkness of the building and a moment later I heard the echo as the sound reflected from the walls. The echo was not only quieter - it was flat. The pitch of the note had gone down.

After much thought I decided that this was because it had travelled through more cold air than hot air on its way to the walls and back and so had slowed down, therefore reducing the pitch. However the reflected path and the transmitted path are the same length and so the effects should cancel so I still can't really explain it fully. Has anyone any better suggestions?

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Science Struck

How Does Sound Travel? Here’s the Science Behind This Concept

When sound waves travel through a medium, the particles of the medium vibrate. Vibrations reach the ear and then the brain which senses them and we recognize sound. Read on for an explanation of how sound travels.

Like it? Share it!

Sound is a series of compression and rarefraction waves that can travel long distances. It is produced by the vibration of the particles present in its medium; a medium is the material through which sound can travel. Presence of a medium is a must for the movement of sound waves. There are various types of medium through which sound waves can move like solids, liquids, gases, plasma, etc. Sound cannot travel through vacuum.

Characteristics of Sound Waves

The speed and the physical characteristics of sound largely varies with the change in its ambient conditions. The speed of sound depends on the density of the medium though which it is traveling. If its density is quite high, then sound would travel at a faster pace. When sound travels through gaseous medium, its speed varies with respect to changes in temperature.

The frequency of sound waves is nothing but the total number of vibrations that have been produced. The length of sound waves vary according to its frequency. Sound waves with long wavelengths have low frequency or low pitch; and those with short wavelengths have high frequency or high pitch. Our ears are capable of hearing only those sound waves which lie in the range between 20 and 20,000 vibrations per second.

How do Sound Waves Travel?

Basically, there are three things that are required for the transmission of sound. They are: a source that can transmit the sound, a medium through which sound can pass (like, water, air, etc.), and the receiver or the detector which receives the sound. The traveling process of sound has been explained below.

Creation of Sound

When a physical object moves in air, it causes vibrations which leads to formation of a series of compression waves in the air. These waves travel in the form of sound. For instance, when we strum the strings of a guitar or hit the head of a drum, the to-and-fro motion of the strings or the drum head creates compression waves of sound in the surrounding air. Similarly, when we speak, our vocal cords vibrate and the sound is created. This type of vibration occurs not just in atmospheric air but in other mediums like, solids and liquids as well. For instance, when a train is moving on a railroad made up of steel, the sound waves thus produced travel via these tracks.

At room temperature, sound travels through air with a speed of 343 m/s, through water at 1,482 m/s, and through steel at 5,960 m/s. As you can see, sound waves travel in a gaseous medium at a slow pace because its molecules are loosely bound and have to cover a long distance to collide with another molecule. In solid medium, the atoms are so closely packed that the vibration is readily transmitted to the neighboring atoms, and sound travels quite fast. In liquid medium, the bonding between the component particles are not as strong as in solids. Therefore, the sound waves move through it at a less speed as compared to solid.

Detection of Sound

When the sound waves hit the receiver, it causes some vibration in that object. The detector captures just a part of the energy from the moving sound wave. This energy of vibration is then converted to electrical signals. Thus, when the sound waves reach our ears, the eardrum present inside it vibrates. This vibration reaches our inner ear and is converted into nerve signals. As a result, we can hear the sound. Devices like microphone can detect sound. The sound waves create vibrations in its membrane which forms electrical signals that gets amplified and recorded.

So, how does sound travel? Vibration of an object causes vibrations of the same frequency in the surrounding medium. The vibrations are sent to the inner ear. After the auditory nerve picks up these vibrations, electrical signals are sent to the brain where the vibrations are recognized as sound.

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Physics library

Course: physics library   >   unit 8.

• Production of sound
• Sound Properties: Amplitude, period, frequency, wavelength
• Speed of Sound

Relative speed of sound in solids, liquids, and gases

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• Why do sounds get softer?
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Video transcript

Sound and the Weather

Weather conditions can also make sound travel farther or shorter distances—but not for the reason you think. A strong wind won’t carry a sound wave along faster or push it backward like it would a material object. After all, the speed of sound is far faster than the speed of the wind!

However, wind shear—when the direction that air is traveling changes suddenly from one part of the atmosphere to another—can affect how sound travels. Sound typically bends upward as it travels out, but with an appropriate wind shear, it will reflect downward again, like a stone skipping on a pond—causing someone farther away to be able to hear it. Similarly, temperature inversions—where a layer of warm air rests on top of a bubble of cooler air—can also cause loud sounds to travel much farther than expected. An explosion at an English oil depot could be heard a surprising 200 mi (320 km) away in the Netherlands as the sound ricocheted off a layer of air. People who were much closer to the blast did not hear it, as the sound traveled over their heads, creating a “sound shadow.”

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How far does sound travel in the ocean?

The distance that sound travels in the ocean varies greatly, depending primarily upon water temperature and pressure..

Water temperature and pressure determine how far sound travels in the ocean.

While sound moves at a much faster speed in the water than in air , the distance that sound waves travel is primarily dependent upon ocean temperature and pressure. While pressure continues to increase as ocean depth increases, the temperature of the ocean only decreases up to a certain point, after which it remains relatively stable. These factors have a curious effect on how (and how far) sound waves travel.

Imagine a whale is swimming through the ocean and calls out to its pod. The whale produces sound waves that move like ripples in the water. As the whale’s sound waves travel through the water, their speed decreases with increasing depth (as the temperature drops), causing the sound waves to refract downward . Once the sound waves reach the bottom of what is known as the thermocline layer, the speed of sound reaches its minimum. The thermocline is a region characterized by rapid change in temperature and pressure which occurs at different depths around the world. Below the thermocline "layer," the temperature remains constant, but pressure continues to increase. This causes the speed of sound to increase and makes the sound waves refract upward .  

The area in the ocean where sound waves refract up and down is known as the "sound channel." The channeling of sound waves allows sound to travel thousands of miles without the signal losing considerable energy.  In fact, hydrophones, or underwater microphones, if placed at the proper depth, can pick up whale songs and manmade noises from many kilometers away.

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More information.

• Noise in the Ocean: A National Issue (National Marine Sanctuaries)
• Just how noisy is the ocean? Learn about a NOAA Effort to Monitor Underwater Sound
• Sound in the Sea Gallery
• Acoustic Monitoring

Last updated: 01/20/23 Author: NOAA How to cite this article

Total solar eclipse April 8, 2024 facts: Path, time and the best places to view

In the U.S., 31 million people already live inside the path of totality.

Scroll down to see the list of U.S. cities where the April 8 total solar eclipse will be visible, the duration of the eclipse in those locations and what time totality will begin, according to GreatAmericanEclipse.com .

"Eclipse Across America," will air live Monday, April 8, beginning at 2 p.m. ET on ABC, ABC News Live, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+ and Hulu as well as network social media platforms.

On April 8, 2024, a historic total solar eclipse will cast a shadow over parts of the United States, prompting a mass travel event to the path of totality -- from Texas to Maine and several states and cities in between.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and, for a short time, completely blocks the face of the sun, according to NASA .

The track of the moon's shadow across Earth's surface is called the path of totality, and to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse, viewers must be within the 115-mile-wide path. To discover when to see the solar eclipse in totality or the partial eclipse in locations across the U.S. outside of the path, check out NASA's Eclipse Explorer tool .

Eclipse travel

In the U.S., 31 million people already live inside the path of totality, bringing the celestial phenomenon to their doorsteps, Michael Zeiler, expert solar eclipse cartographer at GreatAmericanEclipse.com told ABC News.

MORE: Eclipse glasses: What to know to keep your eyes safe

But for individuals outside of the path, investing time and money are needed to experience the event in totality.

Eclipse chasers, or umbraphiles, are individuals who will do almost anything, and travel almost anywhere, to see totality, according to the American Astronomical Society .

"There's a very active community of solar eclipse chasers and we will go to any reasonable lengths to see solar eclipses anywhere in the world," Zeiler said. "All of us are united in pursuing the unimaginable beauty of a total solar eclipse."

MORE: The surprising reason why a Texas county issued a disaster declaration ahead of April total solar eclipse

Bringing together both eclipse experts and novice sky watchers, the total solar eclipse on April 8 is projected to be the U.S.'s largest mass travel event in 2024, according to Zeiler, who likened it to "50 simultaneous Super Bowls across the nation."

"When you look at the number of people expected to come to the path of totality for the solar eclipse, we estimate those numbers are roughly the equivalent of 50 simultaneous Super Bowls across the nation, from Texas to Maine," he said.

Eclipse map, path of totality

In the U.S., the path of totality begins in Texas and will travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA.

Best times, places to view eclipse

Below is a list of some American cities where the April 8 total solar eclipse will be most visible -- pending weather forecasts -- the duration of the eclipse in those locations and what time totality will begin, according to GreatAmericanEclipse.com.

• Eagle Pass, Texas, 1:27 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 23 seconds
• Uvalde, Texas, 1:29 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 16 seconds
• Kerrville, Texas, 1:32 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 23 seconds
• Austin, Texas, 1:36 p.m. CDT: 1 minute, 53 seconds
• Killeen, Texas, 1:36 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 17 seconds
• Fort Worth, Texas, 1:40 p.m. CDT: 2 minutes, 34 seconds
• Dallas, Texas, 1:40 p.m. CDT: 3 minutes, 47 seconds
• Little Rock, Arkansas, 1:51 p.m. CDT: 2 minutes, 33 seconds
• Jonesboro, Arkansas, 1:55 p.m. CDT: 2 minutes, 24 seconds
• Poplar Bluff, Arkansas, 1:56 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 8 seconds
• Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 1:58 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 6 seconds
• Carbondale, Illinois, 1:59 p.m. CDT: 4 minutes, 8 seconds
• Mount Vernon, Illinois, 2:00 p.m. CDT: 3 minutes, 40 seconds
• Evansville, Indiana, 2:02 p.m. CDT: 3 minutes, 2 seconds
• Terre Haute, Indiana, 3:04 p.m. EDT: 2 minutes, 57 seconds
• Indianapolis, Indiana, 3:06 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 46 seconds
• Dayton, Ohio, 3:09 p.m. EDT: 2 minutes, 46 seconds
• Wapakoneta, Ohio, 3:09 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 55 seconds
• Toledo, Ohio, 3:12 p.m. EDT: 1 minute, 54 seconds
• Cleveland, Ohio, 3:13 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 50 seconds

Pennsylvania

• Erie, Pennsylvania, 3:16 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 43 seconds
• Buffalo, New York, 3:18 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 45 seconds
• Rochester, New York, 3:20 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 40 seconds
• Syracuse, New York, 3:23 p.m. EDT: 1 minute, 26 seconds
• Burlington, Vermont, 3:26 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 14 seconds
• Island Falls, Maine, 3:31 p.m. EDT: 3 minutes, 20 seconds
• Presque Island, Maine, 3:32 p.m. EDT: 2 minutes, 47 seconds

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ABC News Live

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Total eclipse guide: When it is, where to watch along the path of totality, how to do it safely and more

S ky-gazers in North America will be treated next week to a total solar eclipse that will briefly turn day into night for tens of millions of people from Mexico to Canada.

The April 8 eclipse will be at least partially visible in all 50 states except Alaska and entirely visible in 13 states from Texas to Maine.

⌚ When is the eclipse happening, exactly?

The timing varies depending on your location (see chart below) but it will begin in Texas shortly after noon local time, in Maine about a quarter after 2 p.m. ET.

🌔🌓🌑🌗🌖 How long will the eclipse last?

For those along the so-called path of totality, the moon will cross in front of the sun for nearly four and a half minutes (268 seconds to be exact), or roughly twice as long as the annular eclipse that occurred back in 2017. As it does, the sky will darken and the sun’s fiery edges, also known as the solar corona, will appear around the eclipsing moon, engulfing the Earth in shadow.

☀️ 🌤️ ⛅ Eclipse weather forecast

With April 8 now within the 10-day forecast window, meteorologists are offering local weather forecasts for total solar eclipse day — though at this stage they are preliminary.

Also see: Eclipse forecast: Where you'll be able to see it — and where viewing could be difficult

👀 How often do you see total solar eclipses?

They're pretty rare. Over the past century, only 13 total solar eclipses have been visible in the United States . And the next one, in Alaska, won’t occur until 2033.

💦 Total eclipse fever

Anticipation for the celestial event is building. Some cities along the path of totality are looking to cash in on the excitement, offering special travel packages to view the eclipse, while other communities are bracing for an influx of eclipse seekers. Airbnb searches along the path of totality have been skyrocketing .

Texas is a prime eclipse destination, with Dallas and Austin both sitting along the path of totality, and San Antonio just outside. In Austin, city officials are expecting the eclipse to bring a million tourists to the area.

Related: Photos of people looking at solar eclipses from 1907 to the present day

🚨 Small towns brace for eclipse traffic

Numerous cities and towns within the path of totality are bracing for an influx of eclipse seeking tourists — and all of the logistical problems that come with it.

In Aroostook County, Maine, shop owners are feeling stressed about the thousands of visitors expected to flock to this remote northern community that borders Canada.

“It’s a little new for us here, so it is stressful,” Lindsay Anderson, manager of Brookside Bakery in Houlton, Maine, told the New York Times .

“Where are 20,000 people going to pee?” wondered Tom Willard, co-owner of Market Square Antiques and Pawn, which is next door to the bakery.

Read more: A quiet Maine county braces for the eclipse. ‘Where are 20,000 people going to pee?’

Travis County, Texas, where Austin is located, issued a local disaster declaration ahead of the eclipse, requiring businesses and property owners hosting viewing parties with more than 50 attendees to register with the county.

Officials there are also encouraging residents to stay home on April 8 if they are able, to reschedule any nonurgent appointments for a different day and to put gas in their cars before the eclipse.

Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y., are also among the top eclipse-viewing cities, according to AAA.

✏️ Eclipse school closures

From Texas to Maine, hundreds of school districts within the path of totality have already announced they will be closed for the day.

In Texas, the Hays County school district had planned to be open and even purchased enough viewing glasses for all students so they could safely observe the eclipse, but later decided to cancel classes out of safety concerns for students. 

Similar decisions were made by school districts in Vermont, where officials have said that up to 200,000 visitors could swarm the Green Mountain State on April 8.

"To put our students and staff even out on the roads there, it seems better just to have them in a place where they're safe and we're not adding to the confusion on the roads," Beth Cobb, superintendent of the Essex-Westford School District, told Vermont Public Radio .

🌎 Eclipse festivals

For communities within the 115-mile-wide path of totality, there are hundreds of eclipse events planned. Among them:

▶ In Rochester, N.Y., the Rochester Museum and Science Center has organized a three-day Eclipse Festival that will feature hands-on activities, live entertainment, speakers, eclipse merchandise, food trucks and more.

▶ In Niagara Falls, N.Y. , the city is partnering with NASA on a series of free eclipse events and exhibitions leading up to the natural phenomenon.

▶ In Dallas, the Sun, Moon, and You Total Solar Eclipse Event at the Cotton Bowl Stadium will feature numerous activities and speakers, including noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Elsewhere, guests of Dallas’s Hôtel Swexan are invited to view the solar eclipse with complimentary glasses and a telescope on its 20th-floor rooftop. The hotel is also hosting a “Breathe Meditation and Wellness” event, where guests can participate in New Moon rituals, meditation and a restorative sound bath.

▶ In Grapetown, Texas , a Hill Country vineyard is offering hot air balloon rides for eclipse viewing from the air.

Also see: A list of solar eclipse events across the nation from Texas to Maine

✈️ Eclipse viewing flights

Several airlines are offering special eclipse viewing flights. Delta has scheduled two, including a “ path-of-totality flight ” that will depart Austin at 12:15 p.m. CT and land in Detroit at 4:20 p.m. ET, timed to give those on board “the best chance of safely viewing the solar eclipse at its peak” — from 30,000 feet.

Southwest and United are offering special eclipse-viewing flights too.

Read more: Why a plane might be the best place to view the eclipse

😎 How to view the eclipse safely

It is never safe to look directly at an eclipse without specialized eye protection. Looking at the intense light from the sun even for just a few seconds can cause permanent damage to the retina, the part of the eye directly responsible for vision.

Solar viewing glasses have been selling out online, but don’t fret: You can also view the eclipse through a pinhole projection box you can make with items you probably already have at home. See these safety guidelines for viewing solar eclipses.

And when in doubt, remember: Never look directly at the sun .

Read more: Here's what happens if you look at the eclipse — and how to see it safely

Here's who could be responsible for paying for the Baltimore bridge disaster

• The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a container ship collided with it.
• Several entities could be on the hook to foot the bill in the aftermath of the disaster.
• The maritime insurance industry will likely be saddled with the highest costs. 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday after a large container ship ran into it, leading to six presumed deaths and millions of dollars in possible damage.

It's still too early to estimate the total economic impact of the disaster, but between the cost of rebuilding the decades-old bridge, compensating the victims' families , and paying out damages for disruptions to the supply chain, the eventual cost of the disaster is expected to be significant.

Who will pay to rebuild the bridge?

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the federal government should be responsible for paying to reconstruct the damaged Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect Congress to support my effort," Biden said.

The bridge was built in the 1970s for about $60 million, but the cost of rebuilding it could be 10 times its original price tag, an engineering expert told Sky News. 

Baltimore is among the busiest ports in the nation , with more than a million shipping containers passing through each year. The collapse — which closed the port to all maritime and most road traffic until further notice — is already beginning to wreak havoc on the supply chain.

The cost of building the bridge back fast enough to offset diversions as much as possible could saddle the government with a more than $600 million bill, David MacKenzie, the chair of the engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden, told Sky News.

Who will pay for damages to the ship and its cargo?

The container ship, the Dali , is owned by a Singapore-based firm. The ship's charterer, Maersk, confirmed to Business Insider that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. 

However, the companies with cargo aboard the Dali could ultimately be responsible for some of the ship's damages and cargo costs, according to Ryan Petersen , the CEO of the supply-chain-logistics company Flexport, which had two containers on the ship.

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The Dali was carrying 330 containers that must now be rerouted, Petersen said in an X thread.

An ancient maritime law known as " general average " dictates that companies with even a single container aboard a ship split certain damages pro rata based on the number of containers they had on board, ensuring all the stakeholders benefiting from the voyage are splitting the risk, Petersen said.

General average situations can occur when a ship is stranded or when cargo is damaged or thrown overboard to save the vessel, according to Flexport . The concept helps ensure that all parties who have a vested interest in the vessel share the cost and concern of protecting it.

It's too soon to know whether damages incurred to free the Dali in the coming days will qualify as a case of general average.

Who will pay for everything else?

The majority of the financial fallout is likely to lay primarily with the insurance industry, according to media reports.

Industry experts told the Financial Times that insurers could pay out losses for bridge damage, port disruption, and any loss of life.

The collapse could drive "one of the largest claims ever to hit the marine (re)insurance market," John Miklus, the president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters, told Insurance Business.

He told the outlet that the loss of revenue from tolls while the bridge is being rebuilt will be expensive, as will any liability claims from deaths or injuries.

The Dali is covered by the Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association Ltd., known as Britannia P&I Club, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In a statement to Business Insider, Britannia said it was "working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and to help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally."

Britannia is one of 12 mutual insurers included in the International Group of P&I Clubs, which maintains more than $3 billion of reinsurance cover, sources familiar with the matter told Insurance Business.

Britannia itself is liable for the first $10 million in damages, both FT and Insurance Business reported. Whatever remains is dealt with by the wider mutual insurance group and Lloyd's of London, a reinsurance market in the UK, the FT reported.

Update: March 28, 2024 — This story has been updated to include additional information about general average and clarify that it is too soon to know whether general average will apply in the case of the Dali.

Watch: The container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge has crashed before

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