Whispering gallery
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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
- Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol is a famous example of a whispering gallery
- St Paul's Cathedral in London.
- 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 House restaurant.
External links
- [Whispering Gallery Modes] information from the University of Bristol, UK.
- [Whispering Gallery] at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, USA.
- A. E. Bate, [Note on the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, London]. Proceedings of the Physical Society, 50:293–297, 1938.
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