Diablo735 - 9-5-2007 at 22:15
I am in highschool gr. 10 so please have be patience with my ignorance, stupidity, etc.
I have gotten in to a discussion with a friend who firmly believes that sound is part of the electromagnetic specturm. Is my friend right?
Thanks in advance.
Ramiel - 10-5-2007 at 00:18
Not meaning to be rude, but Wikipedia is a pretty good source of information regarding questions like this.
The short answer is No, sound is us picking up the mechanical vibration of matter (e.g. air). Hence also why sound doesn't travel in a vacuum, and
it's speed changes.
Visible light for example, is photons with energies corresponding to the visible spectrum.
p.s. This is traditionally a chemistry related forum.
[Edited on 10-5-2007 by Ramiel]
Mr. Wizard - 10-5-2007 at 07:34
What may have confused your friend is that they call the 20Hz to 20,000Hz range of the electromagnetic spectrum the 'Audio Band" in electronics, radio
and technical parlance. These low frequency electromagnetic waves, such as the 60 Hz emanations given off by the power lines (50 Hz in some parts of
the world), are pure electromagnetic waves. They just happen to be able to be in a range you can hear if converted to mechanical movement.
Sound is physical movement of a material , usually traveling at the average speed of the molecules in that material.
Light and other forms of electromagnetic energy travel by an interacticing magnetic fields and electrostatic charges through a vacuum. Interaction
with material and their electrical and magnetic properties usually slows the light wave down, belows it's top speed in a vacuum.
The above explanations are not complete, but just to help.
Sometimes learning science is like cracking a coconut, you really can't get into it, until you get an 'opening' of a few key concepts. Until then the
explanations all sound like circular reasoning baffle-gab.
[Edited on by Mr. Wizard]
Diablo735 - 12-5-2007 at 21:41
Thank you for your help; it is much appreciated. I will inform my friend this.
PS. I did check wikipedia though it didnt have the exact answer I was looking for.
Thanks again.
16MillionEyes - 19-5-2007 at 07:20
No. To put it simply, sound is caused by the vibration of molecules on air. In order for something to be in the electromagnetic spectrum it has to be
related to light.
The people above me have pretty much said the same thing but I think if you hear it in a more simple language it's more graspable.