Why does the sound of filling up a water bottle change the higher up it gets?

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Why does the sound of filling up a water bottle change the higher up it gets?

In: Physics

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The first thing to know is air does not carry all sounds equally. Depending on the temperature and pressure and the shape of the container in which the air is, some sounds get carried better than others. In this case, the sound is generated where the falling drops hit the surface of the water. The sound is carried outside the bottle by the air above the water. You can think of the generated sound as being made up of multiple smaller sounds(of different wavelengths). The shape(length) of the air above the water surface is changing as we fill water. This causes sounds of different types(wavelengths) to carry differently.

Just ignore the part about wavelengths and it should be an ELI5. Look up standing waves if you want to read further about this.

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