You, know, like in movies, commercials, or tv shows, how the fat and annoying opera lady bellows out a note so high, it breaks windows. Can a high pitch voice really do that?
2007-02-06 14:34:34 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Performing Arts
Yes, if it's high enough it will break a glass. Sound is really just vibration that is being picked up by your ears, and if the sound/vibration is high and loud enough it will cause the champagne glass to shatter.
2007-02-06 14:37:23 · answer #1 · answered by Jason 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have not seen it personally. It has to do with resonance. It is possible with the right pitch and also the right glass. The material the glass is made out of and the shape.
The shape stores energy. If you strike a glass gently with an object some of the energy stays in the glass and this sounds like a ringing. This energy decays to silence. This is also a frequency that will break the glass. Know anyone who can sing that high? You can also add energy to the glass using a harmonic frequency which is a sub multiple of the frequency the glass rings at. The voice vibrations collide with the glass and deliver tiny amounts of energy. This energy stays in the glass for a while. If you continue to add energy faster than the decay rate then a build up will occur. If it is building up and you have enough wind it may break the glass.
This seems like a job for myth busters. The science says it is plausible.
2007-02-06 14:48:37 · answer #2 · answered by Ron H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Breaking glass with a human voice has nothing to do with high or low pitch. It also has nothing to do with volume. It has everything to do with vibration. What happens is ths:
The vibration caused by a human voice that "conflicts" with the acceptable vibration in glass will cause it to shatter. As a person generates a tone, it could be high or low. Like I said, pitch doesn't matter. But, there is a "sweet spot" where the pitch generated conflicts with what the glass can handle and it literally shatters, right before your eyes. That's all it really is.
2007-02-07 01:59:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
maybe not break windows but there is truth to the high pitch breaking glass myth. I've caused a thin champagne glass crack with a high whistle note.
2007-02-06 19:43:41 · answer #4 · answered by hot brdwy diva 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
not inevitably a extreme-pitched voice breaks crystal (not likely difficulty-free glass). i've got self assurance that that's broken by the harmonics which resonate on the frequency to which the crystal is susceptible. next time you get your palms on a crystal ingesting glass, moist the tip of your finger and run it around and around the rim. quickly, the glass will start to ring. (I definitely have in no way considered anybody ruin one by doing this.)
2016-09-28 12:56:42 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
im not sure if it is physically possible, but if a pitch is high enough glass will break. Its the speed that the sound waves travel.
2007-02-06 14:41:05 · answer #6 · answered by band_nerds_rock2 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yep... I hate to refer you to TV, but the myth-busters showed it is definetly possible. I think it has to do with a certain frequency, volume, type of glass, etc... not necessarily just a high pitch.
2007-02-06 14:38:15 · answer #7 · answered by justr 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, I doubt that a VOICE can do it, but some kind or whistle or machine may be able to...also, you must have relatively thin glass.
2007-02-07 01:31:15 · answer #8 · answered by derejrcar 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes. The Mythbusters proved it!
2007-02-06 14:38:23 · answer #9 · answered by ? 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If it really does happen its because of the vibrations
2007-02-06 14:38:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋