What Is White Noise?

Christian defines what white noise actually is and how it's used to mask other annoying sounds.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(02:17):
I'm Christian Seger. But before we go into the light together,
there seems to be some confusion among you about what
white noises. No, it isn't. When you have that snowy
static on your TV and ghosts fly out of the
screen and your daughter says, they're here. No. White noise
is something we've all heard, some of us without even

(02:37):
knowing it. So let's define what it is exactly, how
it's used to mask other sounds, and what other colors
exist on the spectrum of sound. The simplest definition is
that white noise is the noise produced by combining all
the different frequencies of sound together at once. Each of
these frequencies are projected at an equal amount, from low

(02:59):
to high. Because white noise has an equal energy distribution,
sound technicians refer to its frequency spectrum as being completely flat.
Some machines like fans, for instance, can create an approximation
of white noise by hitting all of these notes. That's
why they're so good at creating background noises that masks

(03:19):
other sounds. When there are sudden changes in noise, were
often distracted by the jarring clash, especially if we're sleeping.
White noises masking effect blocks out those changes, making it
easier to sleep through the night. That's one reason some
people leave a fan and air purifier, or even a
television on in the middle of the night. This sound

(03:40):
masking is also used to block noise in places like offices,
hotels and libraries often broadcast over a PA system. If
you're trying to concentrate in a disturbing environment and there
aren't filters like these in place, you can even listen
to white noise on your headphones to mediate the conflicting noise.
How do you we write these brain stuff episodes? When

(04:02):
we all live together in this tiny little studio prison
and are never allowed to leave, There is peace and
serenity in white noise. It can also be used as
a kind of therapy for people with ringing ear, also
known as tenitis. I've got that because of its equal
high and low frequencies. For more info about how ringing
ear works, check out our previous episode on the topic.

(04:24):
And one other thing to note is that, because of
an effect called stochastic resonance, some people actually find that
white noise makes their tonitis worse. Now we call it
white noise because it's analogous to how white light works,
being made up of all the different frequencies of light.
But white noise isn't the only color on the sound spectrum.

(04:46):
Depending on the way signals are distributed over different frequencies,
they can be red, blue, violet, or gray, pink, noise,
for example, is very similar to white noise, but it's
higher frequencies have less intensity, making it louder and more
powerful on the low end. This makes it useful for
testing speakers and amplifiers. Like white noise, it's also used

(05:10):
to mask background sounds, and pink noise even occurs naturally
in heartbeat rhythms, meteorological data, and the radiation output of
astronomical bodies. Check out the brain stuff channel on YouTube,
and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

(05:31):
visit how stuff works dot com.