Jack Yesner Week 5- Styrofoam

 I tend to have many pet peeves. A large majority of them come from two senses: taste and smell. I have pet peeves for the taste of many unpleasant foods, and pet peeves for certain unpleasant scents in the air (which often come from the unpleasant foods). While I do have some pet peeves relating to what I see and touch, I have very few pet peeves in the sense of hearing. However, of the few noises that irk me, one terrifying sound is by far the worst: styrofoam. I will go to great lengths to avoid hearing styrofoam, such as refusing to touch it or leaving the room when someone else is going to touch it. Reflecting on my aversion to the noise, I wondered why this particular noise is unpleasant to me. What makes a noise sound pleasing? Why does styrofoam sound so bad?

In order to understand styrofoam’s sound, it is important to understand what styrofoam is. What we think styrofoam is actually isn’t styrofoam at all. Styrofoam is actually a trademarked brand of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). The material we think of and regularly use is actually expanded polystyrene foam (EPS). EPS is largely made up of air and polystyrene. EPS has many common purposes like cushioning expensive items and being used as a disposable material, but it also has several lesser known purposes such as cushions for flotation devices like lifejackets. 

However, further analysis reveals that the irritating sound of styrofoam may not relate to its materials at all. A study by musicologists Michael Oehler and Christoph Reuter found that the unpleasantness of the sound may be due to the way the ear is structured. As the ear canal bends and expands from the outer ear to the eardrum, certain frequencies may be amplified. The study indicated that frequencies between 2000 and 4000 Hz were amplified by the ear, and sounds in these frequencies do include irritating noises like styrofoam or nails on a chalkboard. Additionally, the brain is also a factor in how we interpret those sounds. The study also reported that the sound may appear more unpleasant if the brain knows that the sound it is hearing is coming from an unpleasant material.

Even though styrofoam is a beneficial material to use as it is biodegradable, part of me hopes that it will fall out of use so I would not have to hear that noise again. Does the sound of styrofoam bother you as well? Are there any other sounds that irritate you?


Can you microwave styrofoam? Yes, but... | 21Oak


https://www.foamequipment.com/blog/bid/33863/what-is-styrofoam


https://www.science.org/content/article/cover-your-ears


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