1. In order to muffle sounds in a room, people will often put soft materials on the walls or floor, such as carpet or fabric wall hangings. Explain why these materials help make a room seem less noisy using the concepts of reflection, transmission, and absorption.

They all obsorbs sound.

Explanation:

If you yell in an empty room, no matter the size, it echos. if it has soft items such as fabric, wall hangings, carpet, and furnerature, it does not echo. This is because they absorb sound. When the sound goes to pass through, or bounce off soft items, the energy stored in this sound's movements is drained. The slow sounds, eventually stopping, or moving far less then when it hits solid objects. Solid objects do not absorb energy, rather reflect/carry it. Sound passes more easily from one molecule to the next the closer they are together. Soft objects sink to weight, bend, and stretch. This is because the molecules are farther spread apart. The sound therefore has more difficulty transmitting from one molecule to the next, and does not carry. Solid objects do not bend, stretch, or sink when weight is laid on top of them. This is because their molecular structure is close together. The chains of molecules are too close to leave room for bend, or movement in the object itself. The sound is then carried, and echos, passing from one to the next over and over until it wears down it's energy supply. The echo effect. This is why sound carries with them easier; it transmits quicker from one to the next, moving back and forth until it is out of energy and stops.

This is why soft objects (as listed previously) are used to muffle sounds, and stop the echo.

I hope this answers your question! I apologize if it's not very clear.