Whispering gallery

Whispering gallery

A whispering gallery is a gallery beneath a dome or vault or enclosed in a circular or elliptical area in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the building.

A whispering gallery is usually constructed in the form of an ellipsoid, with an accessible point at each focus. When a visitor stands at one focus and whispers, the line of sound emanating from this focus reflects directly to the dish/focus at the other end of the room, and to the other person. Circular whispering galleries may provide "communication" from any part on the circumference to the diametrically-opposite point on the circumference.

Examples

* The Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur, Karnataka State, India.
* Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey.
* The Echo Wall in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China.
* The Fazer cafeteria in Helsinki.
* The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
* Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol is a famous example of a whispering gallery.
* St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
* Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence Cathedral, in Florence, Italy.
* St Paul's Cathedral in London. A. E. Bate, [http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0959-5309/50/2/315 Note on the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, London] . "Proceedings of the Physical Society", 50:293–297, 1938.
* Cathedral of Brasília in Brazil.
* Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.
* The Mapparium in the Christian Science complex in Boston allows visitors to enter the interior of reflecting surface forming nearly complete sphere, with very striking effects.
* Grand Central Station in New York City the gallery in front of the Oyster Bar restaurant.
* The rotundas of the Texas State Capitol and the Missouri State Capitol.
* Martello towers
* The library of Dollar Academy in Scotland

Whispering galleries also occur naturally in the ocean. Instead of the reflecting surface it is the sound rays that are curved and the reflecting 'wall' (the sea surface) is flat.D. E. Weston, [http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0034-4885/42/2/003 Guided acoustic waves in the ocean] . "Reports on Progress in Physics", 42:347–387, 1979. The same phenomenon occurs for radio waves propagating in the atmosphere.K. G. Budden & H. G. Martin, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4630(19620206)265%3A1323%3C554%3ATIAAWG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T The Ionosphere as a Whispering Gallery] . "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences", 265(No. 1323):554–569, 1962.

Caltech in the US has been doing research on "optical" whispering galleries, which so far are no bigger than 40 micrometres in diameter, and must be filtered to be seen.

ee also

* St Paul's Cathedral
* Underwater acoustics
* Sofar channel

References

External links

* [http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/~chjpr/Research/WGM.htm Whispering Gallery Modes] information from the University of Bristol, UK.
* [http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/whispering/ Whispering Gallery] at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois USA.


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  • Whispering gallery — Gallery Gal ler*y, n.; pl. {Galleries}. [F. galerie, It. galleria, fr. LL. galeria gallery, perh. orig., a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. galerie a rejoicing, fr. galer to rejoice. Cf. {Gallant}, a.] 1. A long and narrow corridor, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Whispering gallery — Whispering Whis per*ing, a. & n. from {Whisper}. v. t. [1913 Webster] {Whispering gallery}, or {Whispering dome}, one of such a form that sounds produced in certain parts of it are concentrated by reflection from the walls to another part, so… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • whispering gallery — šnabždesių galerija statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. whispering gallery vok. Flüstergewölbe, n rus. шепчущая галерея, f pranc. galerie chuchotante, f …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • whispering gallery — noun a space beneath a dome or arch in which sounds produced at certain points are clearly audible at certain distant points • Syn: ↑whispering dome • Hypernyms: ↑dome …   Useful english dictionary

  • whispering gallery — a space or gallery beneath a dome or broad arch in which low sounds produced at any of certain points are clearly audible at certain other distant points. [1690 1700] * * * …   Universalium

  • whispering gallery — noun a gallery or dome with acoustic properties such that a faint sound may be heard round its entire circumference …   English new terms dictionary

  • whispering gallery — /ˈwɪspərɪŋ gæləri/ (say wispuhring galuhree) noun a gallery or dome in which sounds, however soft, are reflected and can be heard at a considerable distance …  

  • (the) Whispering Gallery — the Whispering Gallery [the Whispering Gallery] the famous ↑gallery (= a raised platform along the inner wall of a building) that goes all the way round the inside of the ↑dome of ↑St Paul s Cathedral in London …   Useful english dictionary

  • Gallery — Gal ler*y, n.; pl. {Galleries}. [F. galerie, It. galleria, fr. LL. galeria gallery, perh. orig., a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. galerie a rejoicing, fr. galer to rejoice. Cf. {Gallant}, a.] 1. A long and narrow corridor, or place for… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Whispering — is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords do not vibrate normally, but are instead adducted sufficiently to create audible turbulence (a hissing quality) as the speaker exhales (or occasionally inhales) during speech. [ Principles …   Wikipedia

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