SOS: Sect2-pg6: When talking | Dangerous Decibels Online Educator Training

Science of Sound: 2. How is Sound Made?

When you talk and your vocal folds vibrate, does the sound cause the air molecule to travel from your mouth to the ear of the listener? The answer is no. The sound energy from your vocal cords is transferred to the molecules next to them, which transfers the energy to the molecules next to those, and so on. Remember, it takes a “medium” to transfer the vibrations like air or water.

2. How is Sound Made?

If you are in space and yell for help, would anyone hear you? If you are in space and yell for help, would anyone hear you? Yes, because you are vibrating your vocal folds with air from your lungs. No, because there is nothing to transmit vibrations to your ears in space.

Great job! Space is mostly empty, so without anything to transmit the vibrations, there would be no sound.

If you are in space and yell for help, no one would hear you. The space between the stars and planets is mostly empty. In other words, there is no medium to transmit the sound. Without air molecules to transmit the sound, there is no sound. If you get stranded in space, save your breath! ——no one will hear you.

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