It is claimed that the range of sound lies between 16 vibrations and
30,000 (about); in such extreme cases the molecules would require 1/16
and 1/30000 of a second to perform the same journey.
It must not be forgotten that a mass moving through a given distance has
the power of doing work, and the amount of energy it will exercise will
depend on _its_ velocity. Now, a molecule of oxygen or nitrogen,
according to modern science, is a _mass_ 1/250000000 of an inch in
diameter, and an oxygen molecule has been calculated to weigh
0.0000000054044 ounce. Taking this weight traveling with a velocity of
1,512 feet a second through an average distance of 8/100000 of an inch,
the battering power or momentum it would have can be shown to be in round
numbers capable of moving 1/200000 of an ounce.
Now, when the C^{3} tuning fork has been vibrating for some time, but
still sounding audibly, Prof. Carter determined that its amplitude of
stroke was only the 1/17000 of an inch, or its velocity of motion was at
the rate of 1/33 of an inch in one second, or one inch in 33 seconds
(over half a minute), or less than one foot in one hour.
Assuming one prong to weigh two ounces, we have a two-ounce mass moving
1/17000 of an inch with a velocity of 1/33 of an inch in one second. The
prong, then, has a momentum or can exercise an amount of energy
equivalent to 1/200 of an ounce, or can overcome the momentum of 1,000
molecules.
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