Resonance refers to a state or process where vibrations or energy match and intensify each other. It's like when you hum along with your favorite song, and suddenly the whole room starts humming too.
When we talk about resonance, usually we're thinking about how two things can make each other stronger by matching their frequencies. For example, in music, resonance is what happens when a guitar string vibrates at the same pitch as another instrument or even a building's acoustics. This is why some concert halls sound amazing – the design helps create perfect resonance between the music and the space.
In science, researchers often talk about resonance when studying vibrations and energy transfer. For instance, in physics, resonance occurs when an object vibrates at the same frequency as its surroundings, causing it to amplify the effect. In engineering, resonance can be a problem if not managed correctly – imagine a bridge swaying too much because of resonance from nearby traffic or waves.
But outside of science and music, we might use the word "resonance" metaphorically, like when someone says that a particular place or event has emotional resonance for them. This usually means it's had a lasting impact on their feelings or memories.
How common is "resonance"?
Word resonance is considered uncommon in modern English. It appears most frequently in academic texts and less often in other writings.
Definitions
noun
The quality of being resonant.
A resonant sound, echo, or reverberation, such as that produced by blowing over the top of a bottle.
The sound produced by a hollow body part such as the chest cavity upon auscultation, especially that produced while the patient is speaking.
Something that evokes an association, or a strong emotion.
The increase in the amplitude of an oscillation of a system under the influence of a periodic force whose frequency is close to that of the system's natural frequency.
A short-lived subatomic particle or state of atomic excitation that results from the collision of atomic particles.
Example: 2004, When experiments with the first ‘atom-smashers’ took place in the 1950s to 1960s, many short-lived heavier siblings of the proton and neutron, known as ‘resonances’, were discovered. — Frank Close, Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2004, p. 35)
An increase in the strength or duration of a musical tone produced by sympathetic vibration.
The property of a compound that can be visualized as having two structures differing only in the distribution of electrons; mesomerism.
A influence of the gravitational forces of one orbiting object on the orbit of another, causing periodic perturbations.
The condition where the inductive and capacitive reactances have equal magnitude.