Why does snapping only make sound when you come in contact with your hand and why does it require the finger to slide off the thumb onto your palm for it to make sound? Why does quickly slapping your palm with your finger not make the same snapping sound?
In: Physics
The snap sound is generated by the finger hitting the palm at high speed. The reason why it requires the thumb and why just slapping a finger on to the palm makes a different sound is speed. The potential energy, the energy that is stored and not active yet, is higher with the thumb holding the finger back until you release it, making it kinetic, or active, energy. It makes your finger move faster than just slapping it against your palm, generating the snap sound. If you used one finger on one hand to hit the palm of the other hand, you could make the same sound as snapping.
If you are like me, you also hold down the finger below your snapping finger, which creates an echoing chamber of sorts, which amplifies the volume and slightly changes the sound of the snap.
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