The Sound of the Vuvuzela Explained

I'm a physics professor who does research in acoustics and vibration, and when one of my students brought me a Vuvuzela to play with, we had to test it in our acoustics lab to see how loud it gets, and what frequencies it produces. It turns out that these things can be dangerously loud (loud enough to cause serious hearing loss). They also produce a large number of frequencies that can mask some of the sounds necessary for hearing and understanding human speech.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• vuvuzela
• world cup
• sound
• acoustics
• horn
• physics
• loud
• explain
• south africa

[calmetosis]

It's not that the sound is annoying is just the fact that that thing seem to have no other purpose....... other than to annoy!!

[GameMusicCompilation]

louder than the space shuttle during lift off.

yeah sure you listen to that on your face and ill hear the kids horn.

[cromatical]

I just bought a vuvuzela at fiVe BELoW for $2!! thing is looooudddd!!!!!! my dog shit himself when i blew it.

[Saethir]

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR­RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR­RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR­RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[soderholm13]

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­

[axlrocksyuju]

I want one :)

[flareak]

lol prof. russel, you should edit the video so it looks like the camera breaks when you point the vuvuzela at it

[klaptrap]

Another question to answer: If you were to place a crystal glass at the business end of a Vuvuzela, would it shatter if you matched it's resonance frequency?