PARADOX

[Lawr]

Don't move this please.

No matter how or where you station it, naturally, a duck's quack does not make an echo. :)
---
True
False

I already know the answer, but do you? Discuss.

[rubah]

well, it wouldn't make an echo in space, so I guess if this is a binary choice, I'm going to have to go with true.

[Shoeberto]

I think this was tested on Mythbusters and they proved it true - a duck's quack just doesn't echo. I can't remember if scientists isolated exactly why, though I'd assume it has to do with the nature of the sound waves of their quacks.

[blackmage_nuke]

Well if it's stationed next to a microphone which is attached to a speaker with a slight delay in playback, then it's almost an echo

But on a more nonidiotic note, i think that even if you cant hear a ducks echo, it is still there

[Captain Maxx Power]

It's false. Nearly any sound wave of sufficient volume will echo against a solid surface.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Well if it's stationed next to a microphone which is attached to a speaker with a slight delay in playback, then it's almost an echo

But on a more nonidiotic note, i think that even if you cant hear a ducks echo, it is still there

They have equipment that would be able to detect an echo in frequencies above and bellow that of the human ear.

As far as I remember, it does not echo.

[o_O]

Why wouldn't a duck's quack echo? There's no reason that it wouldn't reflect off of a surface, since it's a regular sound wave just like any other. The quack has a decaying waveform, which makes it hard to discern where the quack ends and the echo begins.

The only way that the duck could avoid generating an audible echo is if it chose to stand exactly on a node of the sound wave with respect to the reflection source, thereby creating a standing wave.
<a href="http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/duckecho.asp">Snopes thinks a quack echoes.</a>
<a href="http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/duck/">So does the University of Salford.</a>
EDIT: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_%28season_1%29#Does_a_Duck.27s_Quack_Echo.3F">So do Mythbusters</a>

:p

[Denmark]

paradox - Definitions from Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paradox)

Anyway. It's true. Ducks' quacks don't echo. What is my basis for saying this? Everyone else said it.

[eestlinc]

of course it echoes.

however, I am amused at thinking about how someone would go about testing this. It's like that Far Side cartoon where the guy realizes he is the only person who didn't bring his duck.

[Shoeberto]

Ah, I must've misremembered that episode.

[NeoTifa]

of course they dont echo! they are magical! if you cant hear their magical quack the first time, then you are not deserving of an echo. they shall smite you with thier awesome cuteness <3

[blackmage_nuke]

of course they dont echo! they are magical! if you cant hear their magical quack the first time, then you are not deserving of an echo. they shall smite you with thier awesome cuteness <3
Magical? No wonder they taste so good!

[NeoTifa]

ewwwwwwwwwww no thats inhumane!

[Quindiana Jones]

It's true. Duck quacks don't echo.

[Ashi]

I heard that it doesnt, but a quack itself sounds like echo to me.

[Lawr]

I heard that it doesnt, but a quack itself sounds like echo to me.

I can understand that, I hear them every morning! :mad2:

[Boosk]

Great Moments in Science - Quacks Don't Echo (http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1102602.htm)

I find it strange that someone would actually want to experiment on a duck's quack...

[Quindiana Jones]

Scientist: "We've discovered something amazing!!!! You'll definitely want to hear this."
Person being talked to by Scientist: "OMG! You've found a cure for cancer?? You've discovered how to travel faster than light???"
Scientist: "Hell no! But we have discovered that quacks don't echo!"
PbttbS: "Bugger me sideways and call me Charlie! That is amazing!"
Scientist who actually read the article linked by Boosk: "WRONG! It's actually that the echo is such a weird echo, that is is lost in the original sound of the quack. I'm glad I wasted my time on that one."
Scientist and PbttbS: "Daym!"

I think that is what happened when the scientists discovered this incredibly piece of info.

[PuPu]

I think they do echo, but we just can't hear it very well. It probably has something to do with the frequency and wavelengths of the quack.

[escobert]

I think this was tested on Mythbusters and they proved it true - a duck's quack just doesn't echo. I can't remember if scientists isolated exactly why, though I'd assume it has to do with the nature of the sound waves of their quacks.

I saw that one

[Ashi]

I heard that it doesnt, but a quack itself sounds like echo to me.

I can understand that, I hear them every morning! :mad2:

My family has a mallard that lives between cats in their yard. I heard it quite often, too. :)
Except it never made me mad. ;)

[o_O]

Ah, I must've misremembered that episode.

So did I. I could've sworn they didn't bust it. :p