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saywherefore t1_j6fjsrf wrote

Reply to comment by FelisCantabrigiensis in How much truth is there in the idea of avalanches being started by loud noises? by Mammoth-Corner

It still isn’t the noise but the shockwave from the explosion that is the trigger.

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marengnr t1_j6fsec2 wrote

Isn't it the shockwave that creates the noise? Serious question. Not trying to be sarcastic.

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saywherefore t1_j6futlu wrote

Shockwaves do not behave the same as sound waves. For example they move faster with higher amplitude which is not true for sound.

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TheLostHippos t1_j6i675i wrote

At a far enough distance it does behave exactly the same as acoustic waves.

"In particular, shock waves travel faster than sound, and their speed increases as the amplitude is raised; but the intensity of a shock wave also decreases faster than does that of a sound wave, because some of the energy of the shock wave is expended to heat the medium in which it travels. The amplitude of a strong shock wave, as created in air by an explosion, decreases almost as the inverse square of the distance until the wave has become so weak that it obeys the laws of acoustic waves."

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