If you've ever heard a car engine running without a muffler you know what a huge difference a muffler can make to the noise level. Inside a muffler you'll find a deceptively simple set of tubes, with some holes in them. But don't be fooled, these tubes and chambers are actually as finely tuned as a musical instrument. They are designed to reflect the sound waves produced by the engine in such a way that they partially cancel themselves out.
Mufflers use some pretty neat technology to cancel out the noise.
In this edition of How Stuff Works , we'll take a look inside a real car muffler and learn about the principles that make it work. But first, we need to know a little about sound. Inc. All rights reserved.