Why do sounds echo in bathrooms?
In: Physics
Certain materials absorb difference amounts of sound, bathrooms are often made with materials that allow sound to bounce around more rather than being absorbed this creating an echo.
Maybe all of the tile/porcelain in a small room?
Sounds actually echo everywhere. Every single material absorbs a portion of the sound and reflects some. Usually, the reflected sound is either very small or very quick following the initial sound, making it unnoticeable.
In bathrooms, the materials on the walls are designed to be very dense and not porous, so water doesn’t leak through. These types of materials (compared to plaster and drywall) are much better at reflecting sound waves than absorbing them.
Because bathrooms usually don’t have any soft surfaces in them that would dampen or reduce the sound waves. Sound waves can more easily bounce off hard surfaces, and usually a bathroom only has hard surfaces.
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