If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Borrowing an answer from 2017 because it was so good: The answer would depend on your interpretation of the word “sound.” If by sound you mean the vibration that propagates as an audible wave of pressure through air, water, or other transmission medium, then the tree does make a sound when it falls. However, if by sound you mean the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing, then the falling tree does not make a sound because no one is there to hear it. (Following this rationale, this answer will only exist once you read it.)

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.