h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Someone once told me that taps 'scream' (you know, when you turn the tap on and it emits that 'orrible noise) for the same reason that you get the roar/scream from jet engines.
Sounds a bit dubious to me.
So does anyone know why taps 'scream' sometimes when you turn them on?

Dodgy plumbing?


*Sharp intake of breath kind of like a reverse whistle*
Well I could fix it for you, love, but the part I need is back at the lock up.

yes, very good!

No, not the clonka-clonka-thump-whump-clunk of dodgy central heating, but the high pitched noise when you turn the tap on full belt.

I know what you mean, in my previous house the cold tap for the bath used to do it... none of the other taps in the house did though. I always assumed that it was dodgy plumbing.

Dunno the exact answer but I guess when you open the tap, air pressure outside the tap is lower than the water pressure and so the water flows.

If one has dodgy plumbing of the correct type of dodginess I would imagine one might get an air lock and so just loads of air is released that is taking the place of the water that *should* be there. This released air will make a noise similar but of lower quality to that emitted when one blows compressed air down the tube of a trombone or other sound device

Inspect the inside of your tap - it is not perfectly circular, but will have indents. This makes the water flowing past it spiral out - if the exit was perfectly circular, water would spray everywhere.

The spirals in the wave (or, at least, multiples therof) are setting up a resonant frequency which forms the basis of the screaming noise you are hearing. Resonant frequencies and octaves of the plumbing and suchlike will inevitably become involved as well.

B