Sounds to me like you are saying that whenever a molecule hits the eardrum
on one side another one hits the other side simultaneously? I was talking
about individual molecule impacts here. And no, "molecules rubbing together"
was not mentioned. Molecular motion was.

Again, I am not claiming the statement is true--that the sensitivity of the
human ear being just short of being able to hear the impact of individual
molecules--just that I read that in a textbook years ago.


Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Clarke" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: Baldwin hpschd


> Yes, but the point is that the forces each side balance; you need an
imbalance
> to get a finite diaphragm (eardrum) displacement. This, I suppose, could
be
> achieved by making the pressure on the two sides different. What you feel
when
> you have a bit of a cold and the seat belt lights come on for landing, for
> example.
> RJC,
> Edinburgh.
>
>
> On Wed, 18 Apr 2001 13:47:28 -0400 Robert Feeser
<[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Well, I don't know that it is impossible. I remember in a psychology
course
> > reading that the sensitivity of the human ear was just short (by
design?) of
> > being able to hear the impact of individual molecules doing their
Brownian
> > motion dance. The point being made was that any additional sensitivity
at
> > the frequencies where we hear best would be counterproductive.
> >
> > Of course, I can't say whether that was true. But if so, it doesn't
stretch
> > my imagination too much to think that some sound pickups could be a
little
> > more sensitive than our ears.
> >
> > But when I read the subject message, I took the mention of molecules
rubbing
> > together as just an embellishment of the idea of background noise.
> >
> > Bob
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Roger Clarke" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 11:03 AM
> > Subject: Re: Baldwin hpschd
> >
> >
> > > O.K., but didn't he mention molecules rubbing together (sorry - I
haven't
> > got
> > > the original mail)? I don't think that any sound pickup device can
detect
> > that.
> > > RJC,
> > > Edinburgh.
> > >
>
> --
> Roger Clarke
> Computing & Electrical Eng.
> Heriot-Watt University
> [log in to unmask]
>