7/14/2015

acoustics - Does the human body have a resonant frequency? If so, how strong is it? - Physics Stack Exchange
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Does the human body have a resonant frequency? If so, how strong is it?
Inspired by this question on Music beta SE, I'm wondering if the human body has a strong resonant frequency. I guess the fact that it's largely a
bag of jelly would add a lot of damping to the system, but is that enough to dampen it entirely?
What models for resonance might be used to model the human body? (E.g. weight-on-a-spring, with legs as springs?) What about individual,
semi-independent body parts, like legs, or lung cavity (acoustic resonance?).
acoustics

frequency

biophysics

oscillators

resonance

edited Mar 18 at 19:13

Glen The Udderboat
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asked Sep 16 '12 at 6:01

naught101
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what do you mean by that? Self-Made Man Sep 26 '13 at 17:46

@KaziarafatAhmed: What do you mean by "that"? naught101 Sep 27 '13 at 2:13

3 Answers
There seem to be a lot of human body mechanical models, such as this one:

As for applications, I have heard that sub-audio frequency vibrations have been considered as

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7/14/2015

acoustics - Does the human body have a resonant frequency? If so, how strong is it? - Physics Stack Exchange

nonlethal weapons for riot control.

answered Sep 21 '12 at 9:47
Vorac
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That is a most awesome diagram. naught101 Sep 21 '12 at 12:12

@naught101, note however, that I do not quote the study, that produced those numbers :( Vorac Sep 21 '12 at
12:54
great answer... Self-Made Man Sep 26 '13 at 17:48

I agree awesome diagram. It also confirms a story a friend of mine told about an engineer that worked for a
company that makes huge shaker tables. Supposedly this engineer, working on top of the table lost his bowels
when the frequency sweep passed through 7 Hz. That agrees with the 4-8 Hz abdominal mass natural frequency
shown. docscience Oct 15 '14 at 22:26
riot control? this must be related to brown noise Marcel Mar 18 at 20:21

I have just noticed the question. Indeed, the body does have very clear resonances. Nature has
prioritised speed of movement over stability so limbs are underdamped and naturally resonant. It is
likely that many rhythmic movements occur at the resonant frequency of the body parts involved
(rather similar to the oscillation of some insect wings). A complication is that, like many biological
tissues, muscles are very non linear and are actually much stiffer for small displacements than for
large ones. This means that, for example, the resonant frequency of the human wrist is about 2 Hz
for large oscillations but rises to ~ 10 Hz for small ones. There is some physiological literature on
this subject - my late colleague and friend EG Walsh described some of it in his book, Muscles
masses and Motion (1992, CUP). More recently I have been very interested in the contribution of
resonance to the small, normally unnoticeable tremor that all humans have.
answered Sep 26 '13 at 17:05
martin lakie
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Have you heard of Royal Raymond Rife? To the best of my knowledge, he pioneered research into
human frequencies and ended up developing a cure for cancer back in 1934! See for yourself:
Google his name.
edited Nov 22 '13 at 20:22
Mostafa
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answered Nov 22 '13 at 17:54

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Jerry Flynn
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