How does the Whisper room in the capital building work??

Question

are there any scientists that know the science behind it..

also, what shape is the room?

Answer 1

I'm not a scientist but it is the acoustics of the room that allow it to work - the whispering in particular (as explained to me on tour) was probably a happy accident. When i was in the capitol it kind of worked but not well enough for it to be practical. As i recall it was a dome ceiling - the circular shape of it would bounce sound waves back differently - just think of how pong works.

Answer 2

A whispering gallery is usually constructed in the form of an ellipsoid, with an accessible point at each focus. When a visitor stands at one focus and whispers, the line of sound emanating from this focus reflects directly to the dish/focus at the other end of the room, and to the other person. Circular whispering galleries may provide "communication" from any part on the circumference to the diametrically-opposite point on the circumference.

Shape: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ellip...