WEBVTT - What Is White Noise?

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Kristin Conger and I'm Caroline Irvan, and we're hosts

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<v Speaker 1>Works crossover into brain Stuff Now. Children all are welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Christian Seger. But before we go into the light together,

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<v Speaker 1>there seems to be some confusion among you about what

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<v Speaker 1>white noises. No, it isn't. When you have that snowy

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<v Speaker 1>static on your TV and ghosts fly out of the

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<v Speaker 1>screen and your daughter says, they're here. No. White noise

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<v Speaker 1>is something we've all heard, some of us without even

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<v Speaker 1>knowing it. So let's define what it is exactly, how

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<v Speaker 1>it's used to mask other sounds, and what other colors

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<v Speaker 1>exist on the spectrum of sound. The simplest definition is

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<v Speaker 1>that white noise is the noise produced by combining all

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<v Speaker 1>the different frequencies of sound together at once. Each of

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<v Speaker 1>these frequencies are projected at an equal amount, from low

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<v Speaker 1>to high. Because white noise has an equal energy distribution,

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<v Speaker 1>sound technicians refer to its frequency spectrum as being completely flat.

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<v Speaker 1>Some machines like fans, for instance, can create an approximation

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<v Speaker 1>of white noise by hitting all of these notes. That's

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<v Speaker 1>why they're so good at creating background noises that masks

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<v Speaker 1>other sounds. When there are sudden changes in noise, were

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<v Speaker 1>often distracted by the jarring clash, especially if we're sleeping.

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<v Speaker 1>White noises masking effect blocks out those changes, making it

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<v Speaker 1>easier to sleep through the night. That's one reason some

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<v Speaker 1>people leave a fan and air purifier, or even a

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<v Speaker 1>television on in the middle of the night. This sound

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<v Speaker 1>masking is also used to block noise in places like offices,

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<v Speaker 1>hotels and libraries often broadcast over a PA system. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're trying to concentrate in a disturbing environment and there

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<v Speaker 1>aren't filters like these in place, you can even listen

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<v Speaker 1>to white noise on your headphones to mediate the conflicting noise.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you we write these brain stuff episodes? When

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<v Speaker 1>we all live together in this tiny little studio prison

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<v Speaker 1>and are never allowed to leave, There is peace and

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<v Speaker 1>serenity in white noise. It can also be used as

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<v Speaker 1>a kind of therapy for people with ringing ear, also

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<v Speaker 1>known as tenitis. I've got that because of its equal

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<v Speaker 1>high and low frequencies. For more info about how ringing

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<v Speaker 1>ear works, check out our previous episode on the topic.

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<v Speaker 1>And one other thing to note is that, because of

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<v Speaker 1>an effect called stochastic resonance, some people actually find that

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<v Speaker 1>white noise makes their tonitis worse. Now we call it

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<v Speaker 1>white noise because it's analogous to how white light works,

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<v Speaker 1>being made up of all the different frequencies of light.

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<v Speaker 1>But white noise isn't the only color on the sound spectrum.

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<v Speaker 1>Depending on the way signals are distributed over different frequencies,

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<v Speaker 1>they can be red, blue, violet, or gray, pink, noise,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, is very similar to white noise, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>higher frequencies have less intensity, making it louder and more

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<v Speaker 1>powerful on the low end. This makes it useful for

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<v Speaker 1>testing speakers and amplifiers. Like white noise, it's also used

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<v Speaker 1>to mask background sounds, and pink noise even occurs naturally

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<v Speaker 1>in heartbeat rhythms, meteorological data, and the radiation output of

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<v Speaker 1>astronomical bodies. Check out the brain stuff channel on YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com.