TIL: Why Does A Seashell Sound Like The Ocean?
You pick up a seashell, hold it against your ear, and suddenly you can hear the ocean's rhythmic waves.
As a kid, we were probably all very impressed by that, and were told that part of the ocean was trapped inside the shell! !
As you might have guessed, what you can hear there is not actually the ocean.
But how is this sound actually created then?!
There are several popular answers to this question.
Some say that what you hear is the blood flowing through your blood vessels.
But this is in fact not true - test it when you're out of breath and had just exercised. You will notice that the sound is the same, although it should be faster if it really was related to the speed of your blood flow.
Another theory suggests that what you hear is a sound created by air flowing in and out of the shell.
This is supported by the fact that the sound changes, depending on how you hold the shell against your ear - it's louder if you don't hold it all the way against your head, but keep it slightly tilted.
But in a soundproof room, there would be no "ocean sound" inside the shell - although there's still air flowing through.
So this theory is debunked as well.
So what actually creates that "ocean sound" in the shell is the ambient noise!
There is an ambient noise all around us, we just don't notice it normally.
The seashell emphasizes this noise, because it resonates inside it.
A sound from outside enters the shell, and is then bouncing around the inside, amplifying the noise so that you can hear it clearly.
When the shell is small, the air can bounce back and forth quickly, which will make it sound higher pitched than the lower sound of a large shell resonance.
And that's also why the "ocean sound" is different for every shell - the shape and size of it affect the sound that you hear because they accentuate individual frequencies.
You can actually experience the same sound by putting an empty glass close to your ear.
So that's why you can hear a wave-like sound - it's the ambient sounds around you being amplified by the shell!
This is also called seashell resonance!
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
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Sirwinchester
It's true, I have been able to verify it, excellent post sir @sirwinchester
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
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https://steemit.com/education/@rossenpavlov/why-we-hear-the-ocean-in-seashells
What we hear is the ambient noise around us. The shape of the seashell acts like a resonator and different frequencies are augmented. The size and shape of the seashell determine the actual sound we perceive. Any cone-shaped object can be used to demonstrate this phenomenon, such as an empty cup or by cupping your hands over your ears.
really unbeleiveable! long since i went to the beach or hear it sounds. but upon reading this, i heard the sound in my head and imagine the sea shore with the shells and when you imagine it is indeed possible that the shells have roles to play in the oceans sound
I can imagine it very vividly too, if I picture the sea shells along the beach! And yes the sound is really similar to the ocean's waves.
Interesting! I actually thought that you could hear the blood rushing as well, I've read that before. Seems like now I know better
There are many different "popular answers" to this question, but ambient noise seems to be the most logical one until today
My Mom always used to tell me how a piece of the ocean was captured in every shell, because it belonged to the ocean and would always stay a part of it!
I think we all believed something like this as a kid - I mean it really does sound like an ocean so it totally makes sense to a child!
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing :)
You know, statistically, if you pick up a random seashell, you'll almost certainly hear the ocean without even holding it to your ear.
adorable :)))