Why can some people hear higher pitches than others?

Answer 1

What is this question doing under Electricity and Magnetisim? Sound is a mechanical phenomenon. It does not have to be produced by a speaker.

Perhaps you have in mind the 60Hz hum in consumer electronic equipment? It is caused by poor filtering of the power supply, or by coupling from the pre-filtered power supply to sensitive circuitry elsewhere in the device.

Sometimes, it is even caused by the motion of the power transformer windings. As they age, the glue holding them in place breaks down and they can actually make noise by their own mechanical vibrations, without relying on the speakers at all. The winding does undergo an actual mechanical force from the electromotive force (emf) of the current flowing in it.

But in a new, properly designed power transformer, that mechanical motion will be too small to make substantial noise.

Answer 2

There are many contributing factors to these differences. Partial deafness of the upper ranges can occur when the ear has been exposed to too loud of noised for long periods of time. Partial deafness can also be caused by old age (Teenagers typically hear the highest pitches of all people) and many other factors. The prime average age for the best hearing range is 10years old. The range of human hearing is generally accepted as 20hz to 20khz but just like people can have better than 20/20 vision, a few people (kids usually) in a thousand can hear up to 30khz.

Answer 3

A change of pitch in a sound is caused by a change of wavelength. This can be caused by a change in length or size of the vibrating or oscillating device or system causing the sound. When you press on a guitar string at one of the frets, for instance, you shorten the vibrating part of the string thereby shortening its wavelength and increasing its pitch - shorter wavelength = higher pitch.*

The pitch of a sound can also be changed by movement of the sound source away from or toward the listener. This is called Doppler effect. Moving away, the waves become stretched resulting in a lower pitch, and vice versa when moving toward the listener.

*Keep in mind that all sound waves travel at the same speed, so shorter wavelengths will reach your ears in greater numbers per second than longer wavelengths. This is called frequency. Higher frequency = higher pitch and, again, vice versa.

Answer 4

Adults can not hear high pitch sounds because when you are a kid you have microscopic hairs in your ears to hear high and low pitch sounds you have more low pitch than high pitch hairs and millions and millions of these hairs die every day by the time you get to an adult all of the tiny hairs die and no more grow.

other animals have hairs so they can hear even higher such as dogs or even lower such as dolphins and whales.

Answer 5

There are a few things that cause sounds to have higher pitches than others. One thing is simply the frequency.

Answer 6

High pitch = high frequency = short waves = comes from something moving fast

Low pitch = low frequency = long waves = comes from something moving slower

Answer 7

when underground elves sing that makes a higher pitch