Could a sound be so loud it smashes a glass?

Question

Like in the movies?

or is it just a joke?

and if it can, then how? because how can noise break an object?

theyre two completly different things...

sound is just what we hear, and glass is an object.

just something i was wondering.

thanks =]

Answer 1

Yes, if vibrations have the good resonance frequency

Answer 2

It has nothing to do with being loud, it's the pitch.  

Sound is emitted and transferred via waves through the air.  Your ear receives those waves and your brain converts them into the sound you actually hear.  

High pitch sounds resonating against a very fragile glass can actually cause it to break.  It can really happen.  I've seen it done in a science experiement.

Answer 3

Sound waves are a series of alternating high pressure pulses (compressions) and low pressure pulses traveling in an expanding cone formation. Within the sound waves, you have a level of energy, and you have a frequency, or pitch, or the distance between the high and low pulses. As the sound gets farther from its source, the spreading of the cone pattern diminishes the energy, which is why sounds are louder up close and eventually are unheard at a great enough distance. The impact of the compressed portion of the sound wave on an object is as real and as physical as if it were a solid, it just dissipates quickly and leaves no physical residue of itself. Given enough energy in the sound wave, it is possible to break a glass, particularly a flat window pane. The example of a drinking glass, however, would rely upon harmonics in addition to volume, in order to minimize the level of energy required.

If you need further proof, consider your eardrums. They are made up of bones and membranes, all of which move when sound waves hit hem. If the sound waves are too energetic (a.k.a. loud, as in standing near an explosion), the eardrum is ruptured and the ear is physically damaged.