We can hear sounds around corners, but we cannot see around corners; yet both sound and light are waves. Explain the difference.

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Cynthia George · Accepted Answer

The main reason that we can hear sounds around corners, but not see around corners, is diffraction. Sound waves have very long wavelengths when compared to light waves, which makes diffraction effects much larger.Diffraction effects are very noticeable once the size of the object that the wave is diffracting around is about the same size as the wavelength of the wave. The wavelength of sound is on the order of 1 m, while the wavelength of light is on the order of   0.1  μ  m.A secondary reason is reflection. Sounds waves reflect off of walls very well in a specular manner, and so can bounce around corners, but light reflects off of the walls in a very diffuse manner.Result:Diffraction of sound waves is larger due to the much longer wavelength.

We can hear sounds around corners, but we cannot see around corners; yet both sound and light are waves. Explain the difference.

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