What do you call the reflection of a sound wave that returns after striking a distant surface?

What do you call the reflection of a sound wave that returns after striking a distant surface?

• A. Echo
• B. Reverberation
• C. Noise
• D. Interference

Answer: (A)

When a sound you produce bounces off a distant surface and returns to your ears, you hear it as an echo. The key feature is that the reflected sound is heard separately from the original, after a noticeable delay because the sound must travel to the surface and back. The distance has to be far enough that the round trip takes a tenth of a second or more, which typically means tens of meters away, so you can distinguish the returned sound as a distinct repetition. Reverberation is the lingering blend of many reflections that continues after the source stops, not a discrete repetition. Noise is random, unwanted sound, and interference refers to how two or more waves combine, producing patterns of amplification or cancellation rather than a single distinct reflection.

When a sound you produce bounces off a distant surface and returns to your ears, you hear it as an echo. The key feature is that the reflected sound is heard separately from the original, after a noticeable delay because the sound must travel to the surface and back. The distance has to be far enough that the round trip takes a tenth of a second or more, which typically means tens of meters away, so you can distinguish the returned sound as a distinct repetition. Reverberation is the lingering blend of many reflections that continues after the source stops, not a discrete repetition. Noise is random, unwanted sound, and interference refers to how two or more waves combine, producing patterns of amplification or cancellation rather than a single distinct reflection.