What are reflected sounds?

What happens when you shout a big “hello” near a mountain, or between tall buildings, or in a large, empty hall? Well, you may hear an echo, another “hello” just like the one you shouted.

Sound bounces off hard, smooth things the way a ball bounces off a wall. The echo of your “hello” is reflected sound – sound that bounces back to you.

Why don’t you always hear echoes? It depends on how far the sound goes before it bounces. In a small room, the sound you make travels only a short distance before it bounces. It comes back so fast that it seems like part of what you are saying.

But in a very large room, the sound travels a while before it bounces back. By the time the sound comes back, you have finished speaking. So you hear the sound a second time.

You can hear the sound you make again, and again, and again! For example, if you shout between two tall buildings, the sound bounces back and forth between the walls. When that happens, the sound is reflected back to you from more than one spot. You hear “hello . . . hello . . . hello . . .” from each reflected sound. As the reflections get weaker and weaker, the sound dies out and the echoes finally stop.

Picture Credit : Google