So the sound got harder to hear as you were farther away, but what if you were at the exact antipode on Earth? Would it have been audible at all?
The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
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Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#12So the sound got harder to hear as you were farther away, but what if you were at the exact antipode on Earth? Would it have been audible at all?
The sound was only audible up to 3000 miles in radius, or about 1/13th the globe. It wasn't audible in the other side of the Earth (although it was detectable.)
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#13Hey, I'm the author of the post (on twitter @aatishb). Thanks for voting it up. Would love to hear your thoughts and constructive feedback. Cheers. (PS the references linked to at the bottom of the post are packed with fascinating information about Krakatoa, for anyone who wants to dig deeper.)
It's a great article - makes me wonder how long the shockwave of the impact that killed the dinosaurs must have been echoing across the globe, or the one that created the moon (well, that one was before earth had an atmosphere, but it probably was strong enough to make the entire planet vibrate for quite a while).
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#14Hey, I'm the author of the post (on twitter @aatishb). Thanks for voting it up. Would love to hear your thoughts and constructive feedback. Cheers. (PS the references linked to at the bottom of the post are packed with fascinating information about Krakatoa, for anyone who wants to dig deeper.)
One thing I'm surprised you didn't mention is infrasound[1], which is sound so low that it can potentially damage the human body. Some of the newer non-lethal weapons the US military use for crowd control include a directional infrasound "gun" that basically vibrates your inner organs fast enough to make everyone super nauseous.
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#15Nice. I hadn't thought of there being a limit (due to vacuum) to sound intensity. Reminds me of this recent comment on reddit: http://np.reddit.com/r/space/comments/2h9y9g/the_first_launc... "the Saturn V rocket produced a SWL (Sound Power Level) of about 220 decibels, which is sufficient to melt concrete nearby and set grass aflame a mile away,"
Wait, the sound caused the grass to catch fire?!
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#16Hey, I'm the author of the post (on twitter @aatishb). Thanks for voting it up. Would love to hear your thoughts and constructive feedback. Cheers. (PS the references linked to at the bottom of the post are packed with fascinating information about Krakatoa, for anyone who wants to dig deeper.)
One thing I'm surprised you didn't mention is infrasound[1], which is sound so low that it can potentially damage the human body. Some of the newer non-lethal weapons the US military use for crowd control include a directional infrasound "gun" that basically vibrates your inner organs fast enough to make everyone super nauseous. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound
Infrasound is about a specific frequency range of sound which isn't audible but still carries energy (which is why it can be dangerous).
This article was about a wideband sound that was so loud that it defies comparison. Loudness is related to the amplitude, or "height" of the wave, not frequency.
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#17Nice. I hadn't thought of there being a limit (due to vacuum) to sound intensity. Reminds me of this recent comment on reddit: http://np.reddit.com/r/space/comments/2h9y9g/the_first_launc... "the Saturn V rocket produced a SWL (Sound Power Level) of about 220 decibels, which is sufficient to melt concrete nearby and set grass aflame a mile away,"
Wait, the sound caused the grass to catch fire?!
I guess that at this level "shockwave" is more correct than "sound"
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#18So the sound got harder to hear as you were farther away, but what if you were at the exact antipode on Earth? Would it have been audible at all?
Assuming it was powerful enough to get there, you would hear it.
At the antipode you would feel an identical pressure wave from both side. This would manifest as compression which you would feel since you are compressible.
A flag would not move in either direction (i.e. the wave is canceled out), but there would still be a compression wave in it.
Like imagine hitting a piece of wood with two hammers simultaneously.
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#19Nice. I hadn't thought of there being a limit (due to vacuum) to sound intensity. Reminds me of this recent comment on reddit: http://np.reddit.com/r/space/comments/2h9y9g/the_first_launc... "the Saturn V rocket produced a SWL (Sound Power Level) of about 220 decibels, which is sufficient to melt concrete nearby and set grass aflame a mile away,"
But the article says:
"This limit happens to be about 194 decibels for a sound in Earth’s atmosphere."
Therefore, wouldn't 220db be like -280°C?
EDIT: Somewhat of an answer:
194.09(P) = 1 (ONE) AIR ATMOSPHERE = 14.6962 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH = 14.6962 P.S.I.= 1 ATM SOUND WAVES DISTORT AND ARE NOW DEFINED AS SHOCK WAVES AND THEY BEGIN TO FOLLOW SHOCK WAVE BEHAVIOR. PARTICLE VELOCITY (BLAST WIND) = 590 FEET / SECOND = 180 METERS PER SECOND = 402 MILES PER HOUR. -REF.2.
Source: http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt
Re: The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
#20Nice. I hadn't thought of there being a limit (due to vacuum) to sound intensity. Reminds me of this recent comment on reddit: http://np.reddit.com/r/space/comments/2h9y9g/the_first_launc... "the Saturn V rocket produced a SWL (Sound Power Level) of about 220 decibels, which is sufficient to melt concrete nearby and set grass aflame a mile away,"
Wait, the sound caused the grass to catch fire?!
Don't forget that compression causes gas to heat up.