Can Opera Singers Shatter Glass? | StarTalk

2m read

·Nov 11, 2024

All right, another question. Michael Bruce from Mountain View in California. Is it a myth that opera singers can shatter glass by singing high enough?

I've not seen it done, but I don't see why it wouldn't be possible because there's certain frequencies that are called resonant frequencies in other objects.

And have you ever done this?

Go up to a tree that's way thicker than anything you would think of toppling. Okay, and then you just start pushing.

If there is a rhythm with which you can push a tree that pumps the tree in exactly the motion that you would originally set it to do, it's the same thing as pumping when you're on a swing.

It's how you can just put yourself into motion without touching anything. You sort of swing your legs right at the right moment; that will add to that motion.

Then you tuck your legs back right at the right moment. So you can do this to a tree, and you will hit a resonant frequency of the tree. And if you do this enough, you can actually snap a tree in half.

And so, did you say you try it fast?

Yeah, oh yeah, I do it all the time. It's fun. No, no, no, I don't do it to the point where I kill the tree, but it's fun to just watch this pumping.

It's literally physics. In physics, we call it pumping. You're pumping a system in the resonant frequency of the system itself. The system wants to sway at that rate.

Now, if you pump it in exactly that way, all that energy stays there, and then the tree starts blowing, waving in the breeze. And it's a sense of power over nature. I did this; I still do it today.

So, somebody's vocal cord, somebody's voice, right? So, you get an object that has a resonant frequency.

Can a human voice reach it at a high enough volume, and then it'll start vibrating?

Okay, if it's at the resonant frequency, and if you can vibrate it with enough energy at that frequency, the glass is not going to be able to stay with you, and you'll just crack it.

Cool?

Yeah, yeah, so that, so yes, it's possible.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

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