huh... it WOULDN'T make a sound.

[David]

Yes, the impact would cause vibrations through the surrounding medium of air... but without somebody with ears and a brain to pick them up and assign meaning to them in the form of experiencing the sensation of "sound," vibrations are all it would be.

 

[Rovewin]

So sound wouldnt happen if someone deaf was standing there either.

 

[Hailey Knight]

 

[Tinwhistler]

Sound | Define Sound at Dictionary.com

mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1087 ft. (331 m) per second at sea level.

 

[Null]

Now, say you have a vacuum chamber, and inside it you have a small metal weight suspended after pumping out all the way. You drop the weight. Do you hear the impact or not? Why?

 

[Tinwhistler]

Sound doesn't carry in a pure vacuum...there is no medium to transmit the vibrations.

In the setup you describe, though, there would be some vibrations transmitted through the base of the device, where the weight struck. There is the potential there to transmit sound, though granted much less of it than if there were an atmosphere to carry vibrations.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Now, say you have a vacuum chamber, and inside it you have a small metal weight suspended after pumping out all the way. You drop the weight. Do you hear the impact or not? Why?

No, you would not hear a sound, because you would asphyxiate.

 

[DarkAudit]

It would be more helpful if we still had the ORIGINAL QUESTION.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I have a feeling, DA, that it's all about that episode of Batman Beyond.

 

[Null]

Sound doesn't carry in a pure vacuum...there is no medium to transmit the vibrations.

In the setup you describe, though, there would be some vibrations transmitted through the base of the device, where the weight struck. There is the potential there to transmit sound, though granted much less of it than if there were an atmosphere to carry vibrations.

Exactly. You'd hear the sound through the base, sort of like how you can hear the whine of jet engines even when you're high enough for the air to be too thin to effectively transmit sound - it travels through the metal.

 

[Hailey Knight]

It would be more helpful if we still had the ORIGINAL QUESTION.

Well, you'll need Deep Thought to construct a computer where organic life forms its processes, one powerful enough to calculate such a question.

 

[DarkAudit]

It would be more helpful if we still had the ORIGINAL QUESTION.

Well, you'll need Deep Thought to construct a computer where organic life forms its processes, one powerful enough to calculate such a question.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, that consortium of highly influential psychiatrists paid me well to make sure that sort of thing DOESN'T happen.

 

[fade]

Mixed metaphors make brain explode.

 

[Rob King]

But does it make music?

ITT we make vague statements or ask vague questions that make us sound deep.

 

[DarkAudit]

.