Sound bends around obstacles through a process called diffraction

Evidence

So far we have only considered sound in isolation, and we have seen that sound has velocity, frequency and wavelength and reduces in intensity in proportion to the square of the distance from the source. However, sound also interacts with physical objects and other sound waves and is affected by changes in the propagating medium. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 322 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: An obstacle’s edge acts as a new point source emitting circular waves; Lower frequencies diffract more around obstacles than higher frequencies do; Sound diffraction arises from gradual pressure decay, not abrupt wave cutoff (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Reflection and diffraction of sound both depend on object size relative to wavelength #expands (0.85)
• Sound propagation depends on interactions with objects and the medium #expands (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 322