ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Acoustic resonance spectroscopy

Acoustic resonance spectroscopy is when scientists use sound to figure out what things are made of. Imagine you're tapping on a table with your fingers - you'll hear a sound, right? Well, that table is vibrating and making that sound. Everything you can touch is made up of tiny parts called molecules that are moving and vibrating too, just like the table when you tapped on it.

Scientists can use special machines to send sound waves into an object they want to investigate. The sound waves bounce around inside the object and create a pattern of vibrations - and that pattern can tell scientists what the object is made of! It's kind of like listening to someone's voice - if you hear someone's voice, you can tell if it's a man or a woman, right? That's because people's voices make different vibrations that your ears can pick up.

So, with acoustic resonance spectroscopy, scientists use sound to figure out what things are made of by listening to the vibrations of the sound waves bouncing around inside the object they're investigating. It's a special way of listening that helps us learn more about the world around us!