Sound surfaces
Hi HIW, I love your magazine and have been subscribed for many years. I bought a music box a few years ago that plays Für Elise. I noticed when I play it on top of wood it sounds very different to when it is played on my carpet. Why is this? Edward Brocklehurst, age 16
This has fascinated many people since the music box was invented in the late 1700s. When placed on a hard, flat surface such as the wood you mentioned, the sound produced is much louder and clearer, while on the carpet you have pictured it playing on, some of the sound is lost. The reason behind this is down to how sound travels. Sound waves are vibrations, and once produced in the music box they will bounce off the surface it is placed on. While flat surfaces project the sound more evenly back towards you, softer surfaces will absorb more of these vibrations, creating muffled music.