Where does sound end?

Question

Is it absorbed, or does it travel through space forever?

Answer 1

Unlike light (photons) that can travel through a perfect vacuum (space) forever, sound requires the atoms or molecules of a medium (air, water, iron bar, etc.) to be set in motion usually in the form of sound waves. The sound waves are a form of energy that would go on forever in an 'ideal' frictionless world. However, energy can be neither created nor destroyed but can be transformed into other forms of energy. When the sound waves strike a wall some energy is reflected and some is absorbed causing atoms and molecules in the wall to vibrate a little more and heat up an insignificant amount. The reflected sound may reverberate in a hall several times before it is all absorbed into random vibrations of solid matter. Halls must be designed to respond to sound in a pleasant way with not too much echo and not so much absorption to sound 'dead' like out of doors. When halls are tested seats may be loaded with imitation people (bags of stuffing?) to simulate their absorbency of sound. Sound can not travel through outer space because there is no media there.

Answer 2

absorbed is the word. Also sound can't travel through space.

Sound is vibration of anything that vibrates the air around it and your ear picks up the vibrating air and transforms it int sould.

Space therefore can not transfer sound because there is nothing to cary the vigrations.

sound under water can travel completely arond the world and then some.Not all sound but certain frequencies at enough volume. Whales cn comunicate at hundreds of miles.

Answer 3

from me :Sound it's the vibration of air.
from wikipedia :Humans perceive sound by the sense of hearing. By sound, we commonly mean the vibrations that travel through air and can be heard by humans. However, scientists and engineers use a wider definition of sound that includes low and high frequency vibrations in air that cannot be heard by humans, and vibrations that travel through all forms of matter, gases, liquids and solids.

The matter that supports the sound is called the medium.

Those physical properties and the speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of sound in air and other gases depends on temperature. In air, the speed of sound is approximately 344 m/s, in water 1500 m/s and in a bar of steel 5000 m/s. The speed of sound is also slightly sensitive (to second order) to the sound amplitude, resulting in nonlinear propagation effects, such as the weak production of harmonics and the mixing of tones.

Now as result of reading, my conclusion:
Sound is any vibration of any object.
It travels for a while with a speed then changes the speed as well as form of the waves due to different mediums,water, steel, or air, ultimately probably disipating after 24 h, mostly few days when you still can hear it as whispers/vibrations if you have very high tech devices.

Of course guess radio waves and other waves are still sounds and I know for sure they can leave earth and go through space a long time, we can receive radio waves from very distant stars. It is called star noise.

wikipedia again : Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. It does not require a medium of transport. Information is carried by systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves, such as their amplitude or their frequency. When radio waves pass an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. This can be detected and transformed into sound or other signals that carry information.

Me again: I think they make too much distinction among sounds,and in the end they going to have to unify all theories, gravity, electromagnetism.

Answer 4

sound is carried by pressure waves .. .it can be partly absorbed by matter and converted into another form (like a microphone converting into electric current) .. and it can be partly reflected.

ultimately what we mean by sound has to have some matter in motion to transmit the pressure pulses, and I doubt that there is any process that will completely absorb sound without reflecting any.

since the sound cant be completely absorbed, it must at least in part be propogated forever ... and therefore you have to take the universe as infinite .. or capable of expanding indefinately to absorb propogation of any signal.

I like to think of this when playing music .. every note is ultimately reaching to the ends of the universe and better be good.

Answer 5

No, it does not travel forever! Otherwise, you would hear sound from all over the world.

The explosion of Krakatoa, in August 26, 1883, was heard 3000 miles away. But not 6000 miles away! Estimated at equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT, this was probably the noisiest explosion in modern human history.

Answer 6

sound does not travel in space that is why we cannot hear dashing of meteors in space

sound is absorbed by living organisms

Answer 7

It is absorbed and attenuated and thus dies down. It doesn't go on for ever. Light may be able to do that in vacuum. And sound doesn't travel in vacuum.

Answer 8

Hi. All of the energy in the original sound is transformed into heat.

Answer 9

Both, plus it will just run out of energy and dissipate, like smoke