Does  a tree make a sound if nothing is there to listen to it?
824148
If you stipulate that a vibration of the air equals sound the the answer is yes.\nIf you define a vibration of the ear drum then the answer is no.\n\nTh
213560
no, but there is equipment out there that can transform them into sounds that we can hear
1085273
I think you're missing the point of the question, which is how we can know something for sure without having sensed it. (which sort of evolved later into the question of how we can know something for sure, even if we do sense it).\nanyways, vis a vis the way you posited the question, it depends on what you mean by "sound". If you consider a soundwave a sound then yes, it makes a sound; if you consider sound only that which we hear, then no, it didn't make a sound. \n\nin other words, it appears your question is really: "If a tree falls in a forest and noone hears the sound it made, did it make a sound?" vs. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did anyone hear it?"
39901
Yes. It would be like saying things don't make sounds because deaf people can't hear it, It still makes sound, just no one is around to hear it.
788355
White noise is normal sound made of waves of compression travelling through air, so if you are in total silence then you aren't hearing any noise, including white noise.  You might think that in absence of any external stimulation (any noise around you) you would experience hearing nothing yet with nothing around you still do.  The auditory cortex (part of your brain responsible for processing sound information) shows activity under fMRI inspection without any signal coming from the ear.\n\nAnother reason you might hear sound when nothing else is around is that your body makes noise (muscles, heart, blood-flow, organ function).  Try contracting your jaw tightly while in a quiet place,you can hear your own muscles working.\n\nExperience of sound without external stimulation can also be a result of tinnitus. This is caused by damage to the hairs in the ear which sense vibrations in the air (the sound) or to the nerves which carry sound signals to the brain, or even possibly by "central crosstalk" within the brain.
290448
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary sound is defined as, "1 a : a particular auditory impression : TONE b : the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing c : mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing." According to this definition the sound MUST be perceived, therefore, if no one is around, the tree DOES NOT make a sound.
433832
Of course. Sound isn't defined as something we hear. It's defined as a propagating wave of vibrating air molecules.\n\nIf sound is defined as just things we hear, does that mean dolphins and bats echolocation chirps don't make a sound? Yes, they make a sound, just we can't hear it. Hearing and sound are two different things.
724971
It doesn't matter...but if you shoot a mine and no one's around, will it make a sound???
968771
that video doesn't have sound perhaps?
96895
Yes, no and yes.\nThe hearing part is really sensing vibrations, but they don't ACTUALLY hear.
787982
Nope.  No sound.  Soundwaves, yes.  Without the diaphram of the eardrum vibrating there is no such thing as sound.  Of course woodland creatures would hear it, most of them have eardrums too. (as oppose to snakes) Sound does not exist on it's own, it does indeed need a reciever to actually be considered sound.  So, taking away all creatures with an ear as a reciever... the tree will only make soundwaves.
170421
Wow, what a silly question.\n\nIt will make a sound, only nobody was able to hear it becasue nobody was there.\n\nBlablablablabla two points for me! yay!
411063
no: If no one hears it, it doesn't because sound is only vibrations in the air if our ear drums don't hear it.
534293
To hear a noise you need to have something for the noise to propagate through. The sun and Mercury exist in the vacuum of space. There is nothing in a vacuum, hence no sound can travel. So no, we can't hear the noise the sun or mercury make. Sound won't travel through the vacuum of space.\n\nBut the sun certainly makes a noise, it is after all a massive fusion reactor. If you could stand within the atmosphere of the sun without being vaporised or crushed you would be deafened by the noise it makes.\n\nBut once you left the Sun's atmosphere the noise would stop. All of space is a vacuum and totally silent.
52736
This is essentially a question of definitions, i.e. how you define sound or noise. \n\nHere are the two basic answers. \n\nYes \n\nA noise is a sound and a sound is a set of vibrating molecules referred to as sound waves. If a tree falls in the forest and makes a sound, it makes molecular vibrations, or sound waves, whether any human ear drum is around to sense them or not. So yes, it makes a noise. A person hearing it is irrelevant to the being of the sound. A person hearing it is only relevant to human consciousness of the sound. \n\nAnother argument for this viewpoint is based on theology. God observes the entire universe. \n\nNo \n\nIf a tree falls, and no one is around to hear it, it does not make a noise by definition. What is noise? What is sound? One must make sure to look at this question not from such a skewed view point to realize that he or she is being misled. From an early stage in our lives, through modern science, it is FACT that sound waves are processed in our brains, thus if we are not near the sound it is just an assumption that it does make a noise. \n\nSound travels through our ears, into the canal, and into the brain to allow for it to be processed by the brain, allowing for us to differentiate due to experiences that yes, it is that particular noise. However, one would not know the sound to be that way if they cannot imagine the situation. Thus, a human being or another entity must be present to absorb the vibrations, waves, etc in order to process the information. \n\nSome take this further and claim that the whole universe does not really exist until it is observed.
669771
Try searching for nature sounds.
37371
yes, just because nobody hears it doesnt mean it wont make a sound.