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Plant, Can You Hear Me? |
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Plant, Can You Hear Me? |
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Sound is a pressure variation that is created by a vibrating object. The wave can be transmitted either as longitudinal, the oscillation travelling in same direction to the energy transferred, or transverse, the oscillation travelling perpendicular to the direction of energy, wave. Sound wave is like an invisible spring that stretches and contracts. As the sound wave travels through the air, it strikes the molecules in the air, driving them forward. Just like other kinds of waves, sound waves reflect off hard objects, such as concrete walls.
Various living organisms, such as dogs, birds, and humans, can hear all the sounds in the environment and are certainly influenced by what they hear in many different ways. Some sounds act as beneficial tools, as classical music is often used to pacify our minds. Some sounds are harmful and destructive, as the noises from the construction zone give stress to the birds inhabiting nearby. However, can sound affect plants’ growth?
Before our experiment, we discovered this project while reading a research book written by a Japanese scientist who studied water molecules. During his research, he discovered that the arrangements of the water molecules were newly formed and destroyed by different types of sound. The various sound waves can bounce off plants and disturb the arrangement of molecules and substances diversely. Then, theoretically, plants’ growth should be affected depending on what kind of sound they hear.
Using an electronic CD player and speakers, we played the sound for one hour at seven hours and twenty-two hours daily. One hour of swearing audio track and complimenting audio track were played to two plants each, twice a day. At The same experiment was carried out with “Detroit Rock City” by KISS and “Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Through our experiment and research, we realized that different sound waves do have an impact on plants’ growth. As the experiment continued, we were able to observe significant differences between the plants. The‘classical’ plants’ leaves changed colour from plain green to deep green; whereas the ‘heavy-metal’ plants’ leaves changed colour form plain green to yellow green. Also, as the plants grew, the ‘classical’ plants had little baby leaves newly sprouting out of the branches; whereas the ‘heavy-metal’ plants had narrow, straight branches newly growing out of the older branches. If you play sound to a plant, the sound waves cause the cell wall and the rest of the cell organs to vibrate and increase the activeness of the cell as a whole. Because of the increase in cell activity, the cell produces food more efficiently by photosynthesizing and using chlorophyll. On the other hand, plants “groan” at harsh sound, such as heavy metal music or insults. Because of the harsh edges or beats that heavy metal music and insults contain, they have the same effect as beating up the plant cells with sound pressure waves.