If a tree falls...

[smc]

Originally Posted by aw9725

Hope you don't mind me starting this thread. Enoch and smc have brought up an ?age old? question: ?If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound??

The answer, I believe, is ?It depends on what you mean?? Here is my reasoning. When the tree falls there is of course the physical act of it falling. As it falls it passes through the air and also most likely strikes other trees. This action disrupts the surrounding air and creates waves. But is it ?sound?? If there is a living thing around the area that creature will ?perceive? the waves as sound. If there is nothing within range then there is nothing to ?perceive? and hence no sound.

That is exactly as I see it. If there is no creature whose organ of hearing is within the range of hearing, and if the mechanical wave that is nothing more than an oscillation of pressure transmitted through the air is not sufficiently strong, then it is ONLY a mechanical wave and not sound.