Refraction (sound) Refraction (sound) Refraction, in acoustics, comparable to the refraction of electromagnetic radiation, is the bending of sound propagation trajectories (rays) in inhomogeneous elastic media (gases, liquids, and solids) in which the wave velocity is a function of spatial coordinates. Bending of acoustic rays in layered inhomogeneous media occurs towards a layer with a smaller sound velocity. This effect is responsible for guided propagation of sound waves over long distances in the ocean and in the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, vertical gradients of wind speed and temperature lead to refraction. The wind speed is usually increasing with height, which leads to
A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound make a sound". The child wakes his father and describes the sound to him. The child believes that the sound comes from a "monster with no arms and legs", which "slides on its fur" and "pulls itself along on its teeth". The father and child discover that the sound is coming from the mice in the walls, and the child is comforted by his parent. The two return to sleep. A "Publishers Weekly" reviewer wrote that "In showing young readers that the things that go bump in the night are, in reality, not so scary, Irving succeeds in helping them