Why do crashing waves sound
louder at night?
Sound waves are vibrations that move through
the air by causing air molecules to vibrate. Similar to
ocean waves, energy gets passed along but molecules
stay where they are.
Ocean waves will change direction, which is called
and if the wave goes around a barrier it is called
sound waves. An example of refraction is when you
put your arm in water and when you look through the
water your arm looks like it is bent. When light travels
through the water, the molecules of water slightly
Day At night and Night
Sun heats the ground Ground cools as heat rises
sound waves
LivingLBI.com 24
During the day, the sun heats up the ground. That
warm ground radiates heat to warm the air above.
After sunset, the ground begins to cool. If the air
above the ground is cooler than the than the air higher
in the atmosphere, called a temperature inversion, the
sound waves will bend towards the cooler air. During
the day, air closest to the ground will be warmer than
the air in the upper atmosphere. Fog occurs when
the warm moist air hits cold air. It is a cloud on the
ground!
Sound waves travel faster through warm air than cold
air. So with inversion the sound will bend (refraction)
towards the cooler air. Which keeps the sound closer
to the ground at night. During the day the sound tends
to bend up to the cooler air so less likely to be heard.
So if you are on your front porch a block away from
the beach, at night, the sound of crashing waves will
sound very loud!
warmer
sound travels faster
sound waves
cooler, sound travels slower
cooler, sound travels slower
warmer
sound travels faster
in the winter
this
temperature
inversion is
common.
When it
happens,
crashing waves
can be heard
loudly blocks
from the beach.
/LivingLBI.com