Question

You are in your car waiting for the light to turn green at a traffic light. You hear loud music coming from the car in the next lane. The music is loud enough that you can see your rear-view mirror shaking.

What would happen to your rear-view mirror if the amplitude of the sound waves from the other car was increased?
a. Your mirror would shake more as more energy is transferred to your surroundings
b. Your mirror would shake at varying rates, faster and then slower. Then it would stop.
c. Your mirror would shake less as the sound wave energy dissipates.

Answer 1

Increasing the amplitude of the sound waves will cause the rear-view mirror to shake more due to the greater energy transfer associated with higher amplitude sound waves. The vibration of the mirror increases with loudness, which is related to sound wave amplitude.

Step-by-step explanation:

If the amplitude of the sound waves from the car's music is increased, your rear-view mirror would shake more because the higher amplitude corresponds to greater energy being delivered to your car's mirror. The correct answer is a. Your mirror would shake more as more energy is transferred to your surroundings. This is because loudness is associated with the amplitude of a sound wave, and a higher amplitude means that more energy is transferring from the sound wave into the vibrations of your mirror.

Consider the loudness of the stereo system and its effects around a room. In some corners, the sound might be dull due to destructive interference or absorption of sound waves, while in other areas, it could be excessively loud due to constructive interference or the focusing of sound waves. The Doppler effect also plays a role in sound perception, where the pitch of a sound changes as the source moves towards or away from the observer due to changes in frequency perceived.

Answer 2

An increase in the amplitude of sound waves would cause your car's rear-view mirror to shake more due to the higher energy transferred to the car's structures, leading to louder and more intense vibrations.

Step-by-step explanation:

If the amplitude of the sound waves from the car in the next lane was increased, the rear-view mirror in your car would shake more. This is because a sound wave with a higher amplitude carries more energy, which means that when it reaches your car, it imparts more energy to your car's structures, including the rear-view mirror. This results in a more intense vibration of the mirror due to the increased energy transfer from the sound waves.

Furthermore, the loudness of sound is directly related to its amplitude. A higher amplitude corresponds to a sound being perceived as louder, since the energy of the sound wave is greater, causing more vigorous vibrations in the air particles as well as the structures they encounter, such as your car's mirror.