Wintertime Oddities – Fun Facts from DuBois

Have you ever come across a frozen lake or pond and wondered what would happen if you tossed a stone onto it? If not, you might be surprised by the results. Check out an example from our lake here, or another example from Youtube.

This futuristic, sci-fi, laser-like sound is caused by the whole plate of ice vibrating each time the rock strikes it. Because the ice is not of uniform thickness or texture, vibrations (that cause sound waves) occur in differing frequencies, and the higher the frequency, the faster it travels. The higher pitched waves reaching your ears before the slower, lower frequencies is what causes the sliding laser-like sound.