If a tree falls in the forest...?

Question

If a tree falls in a forest and no one or nothing is around to hear it or record it or anything, does it make a sound?

personally, i don't think it does, because all sound is is sound waves being transferred through empty space and without anything hearing it, the sound waves will disinigrate or something. right?

Answer 1

Sound is the propagation through matter of mechanical energy as a wave of compression and rarefaction of the medium. It is audible when the medium is in air (or underwater if our ears are also), it reaches our ears and is of both a magnitude and frequency that the hair cells in the human cochlea can respond to.

A falling tree will disturb the air around it, creating sound waves, the most energetic being those produced by the air disturbance of the crash itself, when the tree strikes something solid. This is sound, it has been made by the falling tree, regardless of what, if anything, is detecting or recording it.

If a tree falls in the forest and nothing is around to hear it, it does indeed make a sound? Yes.

If a tree falls in the forest and nothing is around to hear it, can it be heard? Evidently not.

The difference is both subtle and huge. What we perceive as sound is merely the brain's interpretation of the action potentials arriving from the cochlea along the nerve cells. This is not sound, merely our awareness of the high-frequency waves in the air, which IS sound.

Answer 2

Yes of course it makes a sound. You said yourself that the sound waves eventually die off. Well if there are sound waves then their is sound. We know from experience that a sound has to be produced. If you are one of those people who don't believe it try this. Put a tape recorder beside and tree that you know is going to fall. Get yourself within a distance that you know you can't hear and go back a long time later. I promsie you if that tree is on the ground and you run sound recorder back. You will hear it fall. It is against the laws of Physics for it not to make a sound.

Answer 3

All sounds are actually vibrations, whether it's a dish crashing to the floor, your voice, or a falling tree. Those vibrations travel through any surrounding matter, whether it be air, water, metal or whatever, by causing their molecules to vibrate as well. Those vibrations travel to our ears and are "interpreted" as sound.

So clearly, the fallen tree makes a "sound", whether someone is there to hear it or not. The air around it will vibrate. Animals in the are will hear the sound.

Interestingly, one of the posters above is incorrect. Sound does not occur every time, everywhere. Outer space is a vacuum. If you snap your fingers out there, there's no surrounding matter to vibrate, so there is no "sound" that would travel to our ears. When they destroy a spaceship on Star Trek or Star Wars and you hear an explosion, that's pure Hollywood only, not science. In reality, you wouldn't hear a bomb if one blew up right next you in outer space.

Answer 4

Yes. Two reasons.

1. It still emits sound waves. That is making sound. That no one is there to hear it does not take away the fact that the sound waves occurred.

2. Even if no one is there, critters are. You're not likely going to find a tree that is out of the way of all possible birds, rodents, or reptiles that are able to hear it.

Answer 5

Yes. You would have to assume that there would be a living creature with the capacity to hear sound somewhere within sound range i.e. a squirrel, bird, deer, etc...

But that is a moot point. Even if there was nothing to hear it, the impact of the tree would still create mechanical waves to carry the sound.

Answer 6

When it falls the sound will dissipate and fade out then the tree will eventually rot and disappear just like the sound.

Answer 7

Sound cannot be transmitted through 'empty space', it needs a medium to propogate through. Here on earth we call it air. Pick up a science book, you might just learn something.

Answer 8

Yes, but the sound has no meaning because nothing there can comprehend it.

Data without observation is worthless in any context.

Answer 9

yes it will make a sound because even though no one is around to hear it,sound waves will still be emitted and then they will eventually disintegrate.

Answer 10

Everytime something falls, its makes a sound...
No matter where it is