if someone’s talking, and someone’s standing close, and someone is standing further, would increasing the number of closer people reduce the voice the further person hears?

Question

Basically Are sound waves consumed with more ears or do they stay the same?

In: Physics

Answer 1

sorta? it would get quieter, but not by the ears “consuming” the sound.

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sound waves can be broken up by a lot of people to bounce off and disrupt the wavefront, and human flesh and clothes are poor reflectors of sound, all of which makes it weaker, so yes, a lot of people stood between you and the speaker would reduce the volume of the speaker.