What factor caused muffled speech transmission when using long speaking tubes?

Answer

Longer tubes could dampen the higher frequencies that are essential for transmitting consonants.

Speaking tubes, while excellent conduits for sound, were subject to limitations based on their length and geometry relative to frequency. Sound energy travels as waves, and higher frequencies—which constitute the crispness and clarity of consonants—have shorter wavelengths. In very long tubes, the acoustic environment within the pipe tends to attenuate or dampen these higher frequency components as the sound travels the full length of the air column. Consequently, while the lower frequency sounds (vowels) might still pass through, the loss of high-frequency data results in the transmitted speech becoming muffled or indistinct, making it difficult for the listener to discern spoken words accurately.

What factor caused muffled speech transmission when using long speaking tubes?

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