If All Cats Meowed at the Same Time

A student asked teacher Joe Howard a fairly nonsensical question. How loud would it be if all of the cats in the world meowed at the same time? Turns out it would be pretty darn loud, if the cats were close enough to the person listening. 

What's really notable here is that Howard is a true teacher. Even though he didn't have an answer ready for the student, and he wasn't all that versed in the science of sound, he searched for an answer. He read up on sound, redesigned the question to a form that could be answered, and did the math to achieve that answer. And then he made a video explaining his process, which is entertaining even if you don't quite understand the math (like me). Sure, it's hard to compare yowling cats to whale song because cats don't like water. But I learned a few things about sound watching this, and even more about the tenacity of someone looking for an answer. That has to be an inspiration for his students. (via Boing Boing)