The power of vibration is incredible. Vibration allows a microwave to heat food and causes cities to be destroyed by earthquakes. The most interesting feature of vibrations is resonance, where a vibration of certain frequency greatly amplifies the vibration of another object. Every object has a natural oscillating frequency and when another wave of the same frequency hits the object, the oscillation suddenly amplifies and resonance occurs.
The best example for resonance is a swing. If you push a person on a swing at the same frequency as the swing’s natural frequency, you can achieve a much greater height than from pushing at any other frequency. Resonance can also be used to shatter a glass with only sound, by singing a sustained note at the same frequency as the glass’ natural frequency.
Resonance is how two things combine to create an even greater force.
