Infrasound

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/infrasound

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the frequency threshold?Below 20 Hz, the generally accepted lower limit of human hearing
2. What is the propagation characteristic?Low dissipation, enabling travel over vast distances and diffraction around obstacles
3. Why can't we hear infrasound?Our ears are not very sensitive to very low frequencies, so we need a lot of pressure or we feel it as a vibration instead of hearing it.
4. Where does infrasound come from on Earth?Big events like earthquakes, volcanoes, and falling meteors make infrasound, and animals such as elephants use it to talk to each other over long distances.

Audibility: The range of sound frequencies that can be perceived by the human ear.
Attenuation: The gradual loss of intensity or amplitude of a signal, like sound, over distance.
Seismocardiography: A technique that measures the mechanical vibrations of the heart's activity.
Acoustic Waveguide: A structure designed to direct or confine sound waves, often used in musical instruments and audio systems.