why are crowds louder than small groups/individuals even if each person produces the same amount of noise? In other words why would a group of people, each generating noise at Xdb sound louder than an individual generating noise at Xdb? How does cumulative sound work?
In: Physics
Same frequencies add up. If they start at the same spot. If you make a wave in a skipping rope, moving it up and down at some rate, if somerled comes and moves your arm at the same rate and energy, the wave will grow. Rooms will have frequencies that resonate. So certain frequencies can get louder in a given room that way, if all voices are equal volume. But also people talk over each other.
I’m not sure how significant the first part is, because the opposite is true. An inverse wave deletes the same wave that’s inverses, and a room can remove frequencies just as it can multiply them.
But, I’d say since there are many walls you’d get lots of bouncing on the walls.
Imagine dropping pebbles in a large pool the waves would have far to go before hitting walls and returning, so the water would be relatively calm. Or have a simple wave pattern.
If you drop the same number of pebbles in a small tub, the water will be much more choppy every which way, and it will have big troughs, and peaks.
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