# Is it really possible for opera divas to break glass with their voice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-possible-for-opera-divas-to-break-glass-with-their-voice/262333>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 31, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-possible-for-opera-divas-to-break-glass-with-their-voice/262333 "2004-08-31T00:44:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-possible-for-opera-divas-to-break-glass-with-their-voice/262333/21 "2004-09-01T11:24:44Z")

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Just a minor quibble, but the strictly correct phrase is _resonance_ frequency, _ie._ frequency of the mode or resonance.

In this example the resonance in question is the fundamental resonance of the cavity formed by the glass. Forcing the system at the same frequency as the resonance gives the greatest response. Once the amplitude response exceeds the structural limits the glass will crack or possibly smash, although an unamplified human voice would likely require a very thin glass with low damping and no imperfections - hardly something you’d like to smash or, indeed, drink from!

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-possible-for-opera-divas-to-break-glass-with-their-voice/262333/22 "2004-09-01T11:33:55Z")

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> [@SentientMeat](#):
>
> Just a minor quibble, but the strictly correct phrase is _resonance_ frequency, _ie._ frequency of the mode or resonance.

I’m not wishing to argue really, but the term ‘resonant frequency’ seems to be more widely used, even in academic circles. Now I’m not going to go all ‘usage’ on you, but is the term ‘resonant frequency’ (i.e. the frequency at which the object is resonant) actually grammatically incorrect?

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**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-possible-for-opera-divas-to-break-glass-with-their-voice/262333/23 "2004-09-01T11:57:51Z")

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> [@Flander](#):
>
> Oh man…half the doper’s on this forum are biting their tongue not to say that special little catch phrase.

What’s the frequency, Kenneth?

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