因胃气发出的响声

Bang!

呃！

There’s nothing that sends the stomach up into the throat quite as effectively as a sudden, unexpected loud noise at close range.

胃气上行至喉咙最明显的表现就是从喉咙附近发出一声大响，很突然，让人猝不及防。

What Gives?

响从何来？

Counted in this category of shocking sounds is the accidental popping of a balloon or the forceful smashing of an air-filled paper bag. But why are these things so loud? It makes sense that the metal-on-metal clash of banging cymbals creates a racket, but air, paper and latex? What gives?

类似这种具有震撼力的响声还有气球突然爆裂或用力打破一个充满空气的纸袋时发出的声响。但是，为什么这些东西会发出这么大响声呢？像铜钹那样金属间互相碰撞产生的响声还讲得通，但空气、纸和橡胶怎么会发出这么大的响声？是什么让它们作响呢？

As most of us know from elementary school science class, sound travels in waves. More specifically, sound consists of waves of pressure transmitted through the air to the ears. When a sound wave hits the ear it signals a change in pressure to the inner ear. A sensitive instrument, the inner ear can detect minute changes in pressure and interprets these changes as sounds. So logically, the higher the change in pressure, the louder the sound.

我们从小学科学课上就学过，声音是以波的形式传播的。说的具体些，由压力波组成的声音通过空气传到人耳。声波撞击人耳后会向内耳发送一个压力改变的信号。内耳就像一部精密仪器，可以探测到压力的微小变化并把这些变化转换成声音。因此，从逻辑上讲，压力变化越大，声音就越大。

It’s All About Waves

一切都跟波有关

If we think about the air inside a balloon or paper bag as a large, contained pressure wave, then the puzzle begins to make sense. Both balloon and paper bag contain pressurized air pushing out against the sides.

如果我们把气球或纸袋里的空气想成一个巨大的充满压力波的容器，那么这个谜就可以解开了。气球和纸袋里都含有带压空气，这些空气向四周接触面上施压。

When the balloon pops or the bag is compressed, the pressurized air rushes out all at once in a powerful wave. Think of an ocean wave. The larger the wave, the more powerfully it crashes into the surf. When the highly pressurized wave from a popped balloon or bag hits the ear, the inner ear translates the sudden increase in pressure as a loud, ringing pop.

等到气球破了，袋子瘪了，带压气体就立刻以强力波的形式向外冲出。这让我们想到了海浪。波浪越大，拍岸就越有力。从气球或袋子里冲出的高压波撞击到人耳时，内耳就把这种突然升高的压力转换成一声巨大、响亮的爆破声。