Myth destroyed: A duck’s quack DOES echo
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
I can’t believe some people still believe the myth that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo. Why the hell would a duck’s quack - a sound just like any other - not echo? Simply put: duck quacks (i.e. the quack is a sound wave), sound wave travels, hits surface, bounces back (i.e. an echo). Think about it - if it didn’t echo, it would be defying the laws of physics.
Of course it does, so where has this myth come from? Having read this story from BBC in 2003 and this article from Salford University, the common explanations are as follows.
Firstly, ducks are almost always outside. Think about how loud you have to yell to generate an audible echo when you’re outdoors, now think about how comparatively quiet a duck’s quack is. Seems unlikely - unless this is some 80-foot mega-duck - that the duck could quack loud enough for you to hear an echo.
Secondly, as reported here, it’s hard to hear an echo for a sound which fades in and out, such as a quack.
Thirdly, and perhaps most pertinently, people can be stupid. Someone started this “quacks don’t echo” stuff years ago, and it has been touted by “know-it-alls” as fact for years. It often appears on those “483 useless but interesting facts” that seem to get forwarded to my inbox every so often.
Spread this and dispel this absurd (though widely-held) myth.