Atlanta ’s recent ice tempest was so hard that some meteorologist were predicting that the citycould lose more than a one-fourth of its treesin a individual day . So , just how does ice take down a tree ?
Top image : Gerd Altmann
Well , one way , it grow out , is by becoming so heavy that the tree diagram is snapped at or pulled up by the root . Today , commenter ( and physicist)FlowerGirlPhysicistanswered thisphysics questionfrom commenterIfailedcalculus : “ So because it ’s so frigid out and i have no power . How much extra weight can frost put on Tree to rip them up from the roots ? ! Also the audio . How cold does it have to be for you to hear tree snap a mile off ? ”
http://observationdeck.io9.com/friday-physics-3-v-day-for-nerds-edition-1522829385
FlowerGirlPhysicist
Depends on how fully grown the tree is and how recondite the root arrangement locomote . I do n’t know the numbers precisely . But glass is a estimable agency to do it — a decent level of ice can apply as much power as heavy machinery .
one cubic metre of ice ( a corner that ’s like 3 foot on each side ) is 920 kilogram , or 2000 pound . So literally a short ton . But a net ton of ANYTHING on your tree , it ’s going to feel that .
http://observationdeck.io9.com/depends-on-how-big-the-tree-is-and-how-deep-the-root-sy-1522960655
And what about the second question , on why the sound of the cracking tree seems to carry in the cold ?
2d question first : Cold enough to induce a temperature inversion . Normally the air draw colder the high up you go . With a temperature anastrophe ( on a cold day ) , the cold air is near the ground and the warmer air is eminent up .
levelheaded waves journey faster in warm melody than cold airwave . Sound moving ridge move from a moth-eaten airwave region to a hot air region more easily than the other direction . If you judge to send a sound undulation from a cold region to a hot region , it might very well contemplate off the boundary between the live and insensate breeze and stay in the cold breeze region .
On a quick day , the profound wave go up into the colder air and spread out or else of getting to your ear , so you do n’t hear as much
On a cold day , the sound sticks around in the cold aura and bounces around until it generate to you .
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