If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

no?

no….because its only a sound if a person hears it.

Sound doesn’t have to be heard to be a sound it just has to be a vibration composed of frequencies that are capable of being detected by ears… so yes!

introv….yea ok i see why its yes….smart!

Yes, because it causes air vibrations, etc.

No, because no one is there to hear it, so it’s never translated from vibrations into actual sound. (Although there would have to be very extenuating circumstances if nothing with ears were nearby, including animals.)

It’s one of those questions that no one can really answer.

You will need some type of evidence.

If you went into the forest and saw a tree lying on the ground. All though you didn’t hear it fall you can determine the sound that it may have made if you are familiar with the sound of falling trees.

Of course someone can answer it. All they have to do is well-define the word “sound”.

If “sound” is equivalent to “sound waves”, ie vibrations in air, then yes, the tree makes a sound.

If “sound” means the auditory perceptions of an animal caused by sound waves interacting with their aural organs, then no, the tree does not make a sound.

It creates soundwaves, however, the real question is: when is a sound a sound? Is it when the waves are created or when the waves are received (by an ear)?

or what the folks mentioned above

Yes. It says “Damn Termites!!”

@MrItty/Wildflower: Exactly. It’s all in the definition.

No one has to be there. A field recorder can be left behind and listened to later, for example.

This is one of those perrenial faux-existentialist questions defeated by common sense.

Ah, but wouldn’t that recorder pick up the air vibration and translate it into an electromagnetic record that only becomes sound when someone comes around to press “play?”

It’s evidence of a sound being made in the absence of a person.

See, it still hinges on the definition of when a sound becomes a sound. No one doubts that a falling tree creates a vibrational disturbance which can be recorded. Is the disturbance the sound, or does it need to bounce off of an eardrum and be heard to be a sound?

In other words, is a sound a sound if no one hears it, or is being heard a condition of being a sound?

The sound is the vibration. We hear it, others hear it – or not. That doesn’t make it non-existent.

The vibration exists either way, true. But to me, a sound has to be translated by an ear into sound; the vibration is not a sound in and of itself.

If a women yells at a man and he doesn’t hear it, is he still wrong?

@Cardinal: Yep.

A sound is a sound, no matter who hears it. If it potentially could be heard if someone was around, then wouldn’t it still be a sound? Say someone was secretly there, and no one knew it, would he still be able to hear it, whether anyone else knew about it or not?

What if the only person around is deaf? They may feel the vibrations, but not hear them. Would the sound still be made?

Just thought I’d throw this in here. I agree with Dave.

yes

yes. there are animals in the forest that have ears to hear the sound. :D

Sound is defined as something heard. Sound waves may travel but if they are not heard they are not sounds.

Btw,
If R. Kelly pees on a girl in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make an ECHO..Echo..echo..oo..o..?