How come no sound is cretaed in everyday movement? details?

Question

Ok, let's take the one hand clapping riddle. Now say you try to clap wiht on hand your han di smoving back and forth. We can all agree that sound is created when the partivcles around the moving (or vibrating) object, vibrate, right? Now, why when you move or "clap with one hand' why is there no sound created? Aren't you moving paricles? I know this is probably a really simple question to answer.. but.. hey.. i don't know. lol

Answer 1

It does make sound. Humans can only hear sounds within a limited range. If you were in a room and recorded yourself swinging your arms around, if you amplified it enough you would be probably be able to hear it.

Answer 2

Sound is defined as a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a wave (Wikipedia). With that in mind, what you really should be asking is why can't we HEAR one-hand clapping? Hearing is the body's sense that relies on vibrations of the tympanic membrane in the ear to send a signal to the brain identifying exactly what it is. Therefore, if the disturbance of mechanical energy is not enough to affect the tympanic membrane, the brain will not recieve a signal, and thus the person will not hear the sound. As a previous response mentioned, the wave dissipates quicker when the force causing the energy is smaller. So...when one-hand clapping occurs, the energy is very low so the wave dissipates prior to affecting the tympanic membrane, thus no 'sound'. On the other hand, a gunshot has a tremendous amount of energy, moving the waves much farther and vibrating the membrane, causing the 'sound'.

I am not a physicist...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

Answer 3

Well, it depends on what the definition of a "clap" is, as Bill Clinton would say. A clap (to me) is the series of concussion pressure waves in air made when banging two things together, so there is no such thing as one hand clapping since there is no contact. Since there is friction in the air as the pressure waves move through it, they eventually die out over distance. So instead, let's use the tree falling in the forest. The vibrations in the air made when the tree hits the ground happen whether you are there or not. However, one hand waving in air IS making pressure waves by simply moving the air which will vibrate your eardrums, but the frequency is so low it is not within the range of your hearing. Sound is what we interpret pressure pulses in the air as, when they cause the eardrum to vibrate, which is then transferred by the bones in the ear to the cochlea, where the vibrations are sent through a liquid to move hairs. The moving hairs are what we sense as sound. These hairs are of differing lengths which correspond to the range of frequencies we hear. The shorter hairs are more fragile than the longer hairs and can be damaged easier, which is why over time, people tend to lose response to higher frequencies. Also, loud noises (music) can also cause damage. Kids and ipods who crank it way up will regret it in a few years, as some babyboomers I know are doing today from standing by the speakers at the Fillmore Auditorium rock concerts in the 60's. Have you heard of the ring tones only kids are supposed to be able to hear? That's the theory anyway. No guarantee it wil work for everyone. At age 58, my hearing has dropped off to 18k on the high side. When I first had my ears tested when I joined the Navy in 1968, I could hear at least as high as 22k. 22k was as high as they tested. So, if the ring tone is at 20k, I could have heard it then, but I would not hear it now... your mileage may vary.

Answer 4

Sound is created by one hand clapping, but the frequency may be out of the range of human hearing and the intensity is too small to be heard.

Answer 5

sure if you're moving just one hand, it makes the air vibrate (i.e. it creates pressure waves). But these are very mild, i.e. contain very little energy. So you don't hear anything.

whereas when you clap your hands, you quickly compress a volume of air, which then escapes, and this creates a pressure wave that is much more intense.

hope this helps

Answer 6

it's all about how the sound moves through the different media to reach your ear. for instance, sound moves differently (speed and how far the sound travels) through solid rock than through air. so the sound generated by a one hand clapping event probably dissipates or dies before it reaches your ear. sound doesn't travel forever, otherwise you could hear everything.

Answer 7

Sound is created just not alot. Sound energy would be created by wind/ air resistance which isn't alot but its still there. This of course wouldn't happen in space but in theory it still could.

Answer 8

sound is everywhere

even the little things make it. But the sound may be too quiet to hear or have a frequency we cant hear

Answer 9

I agree with the person before me, it does make a sound... you just can't hear it. try using a stick and swinging it very fast, you can hear that.

Answer 10

1.
We are only human, We can only perceive what we can perceive. Otherwise, since we are NOT DOGS, our hearing is only limited.

2.
We usually ignore the "background" noise around us.