Has a leaky faucet ever kept you up at night? For some reason, that drip-drip-drip sound is CRAZY loud. But you can’t pull out tools and fix it in the middle of the night. You just need the noise to stop.
Well, someone’s finally figured out a way to deal with it . . . and all it took was a team of researchers from Cambridge.
Believe it or not, no one had ever figured out what makes a leaky faucet so loud. It seems like a small drop of water shouldn’t make that much noise, but it does.
So researchers at Cambridge used high-speed cameras to watch slow-motion footage of what happens when a single droplet hits a small pool of water in your drain.
And it turns out the sound is caused by a tiny AIR BUBBLE that gets trapped under the water with each drop. The bubble causes the surface of the water to vibrate, driving the sound upward. And THAT’S why it’s so loud.
Now, all that would only be mildly interesting. Except they also came up with a HACK to try the next time a leaky faucet is keeping you up. And it only takes a minute.
Just put a few drops of DISH SOAP in your drain to alter the surface tension of the water. And that should lessen the sound enough to help you get some sleep.
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