• Question: what would happen if all particles vibrated at the same speed?

    Asked by anon-217050 to Philippe, Lucy on 18 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Philippe Gambron

      Philippe Gambron answered on 18 Jun 2019:

      Particles don’t really vibrate (unless you fall into string theory). They also move at different speeds. Perhaps your question is about resonance. If you shake something, it will wobble at a certain frequency. If you shake it at that precise frequency, every time you will push it, this will add up at the right time and make it wobble more and more.

    • Photo: Lucy Budge

      Lucy Budge answered on 18 Jun 2019:

      As Philippe as said, resonance is probably the closest you can get to all particles vibrating at the same speed. This can cause some interesting, and dangerous results! From shattering a glass by singing at it to bridges collapsing because of the wind (or just wobbling from people walking over them – the Millennium bridge in London is an example of this).

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