What makes a clap so loud?

As we bring our hands closer to each other, air forced out of the gap between them. The nearer our hands get to each other, the faster that air has to move to get out of the way. At the last moment, that last little bit of air is moving faster than Mach One, and so our clapping hands generate a tiny “sonic boom”.

Why is it easier to clap in air than under water?

Sound waves travel faster in denser substances because neighboring particles will more easily bump into one another. Take water, for example. There are about 800 times more particles in a bottle of water than there are in the same bottle filled with air. Thus sound waves travel much faster in water than they do in air.

What does it mean if you can clap loud?

To applaud is to show approval, encouragement, or appreciation. You can applaud by clapping your hands at a performance, or you can applaud with just your mouth, as when you tell someone “I applaud your decision to start exercising.” When you applaud, you give loud praise by clapping you hands together.

What is the best way to clap?

Do the basic clap. Open your hands and clap your palms against each other, with the fingers held up towards the sky. Do it hard enough to get a good loud smacking sound out of it, but not so hard you turn your hand red. Some people clap more by clapping the fingers of one hand against the palm of the other.

Can lightning cause a sonic boom?

When lightning occurs, it heats the air surrounding its channel to that same incredible temperature in a fraction of a second. This is where air expands so rapidly that it compresses the air in front of it, forming a shock wave similar to a sonic boom. Exploding fireworks produce a similar result.

How do sound waves differ from water waves?

How do sound waves differ from water waves? Sound waves are different from water waves in that they are longitudinal waves consisting of compression and rarefactions in matter. The compressions correspond to the crests of a water wave; the rarefactions correspond to its troughs.

What is the loudness of a sound?

Loudness is measured in decibel (dB). It is given as: L = log (I), here ‘I’ is the intensity. The loudness depends on the amplitude of the vibration. It will be louder when the amplitude is high.

Does the shape of a bell change how loud it is?

However, what was implied but not necessarily apparent is that size and shape will change how loud the sound is. I.e. Given a bell and a block of the same metal of the same mass, the bell will be louder due to the larger surface area (it will also sound for longer due to harmonic resonance, which stores the ‘ringing’ energy).

What are the characteristics of sound energy?

Characteristics of Sound. The sound that we hear around us is the type of energy made by the vibration that travels through the air or any other medium and can be heard when it reaches a person’s ear. So, basically sound helps us to communicate with the other person.

Why does sound come out when two objects collide?

Such a collision will cause too much energy to be lost fighting against suction forces and thermal heat loss. The sound is generated by pressure wave of air and collision provides energy to transform into sound. Thanks for contributing an answer to Physics Stack Exchange!