How does paper make sound when it is torn? We know that from our experience when we tear up a piece of paper, we can hear a characteristic sound. What is the underlying mechanism behind it? What do the dominant frequencies (edit: I don't mean there is one main frequency of the sound, it is more likely the noise produced contains mostly higher or lower frequencies) and intensity of the sound depend on? The explanation should agree with the real life cases -- here are a few that I observed (correct me if I'm wrong):


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*Dry paper makes louder sound and higher frequencies than wet paper

*Paper produces louder sound and higher frequencies if we tear it faster

*It is hard to tell which one produces louder sound, folded paper or single layer paper

*Folded paper produces lower frequencies than single layer paper


Also, is it the same mechanism that explains the sound produced when we are cutting paper using a scissor?
 A: I found a better explanation that seems more convincing to me. I tried sliding two edges of paper perpendicularly, surprisingly the sound produced by doing that is pretty similar with the one produced by tearing paper. It seems that the sound produced is due to the transversal vibration of the whole paper, the friction or the fibers snapping merely acts as driving force. and notice if you hold the paper near the sliding point, the frequency of sound produced becomes higher because the shorter the vibrating paper's length the higher the frequency is(only short wavelengths of standing wave are allowed).  
Now which one gives more dominant driving force, friction or snapping fibers?
I think friction is more dominant, because sliding the edges gives a similar sound even without involving any snapping process. Also if we slide it faster, the frequency will be higher.
A: If you snapped a piece of wood, it would make a noise, as you tear apart a lot of chemical bonds in the wood, releasing waste energy as sound and a little heat. The structure of paper is fairly similar, except ground up, so it makes a noise as well as you rip apart the same cellulose strands.
A: The fibers snap and the paper acts as a sound board. That is why tearing a larger paper yields more noise. 
A: when you tear a paper the fibers on both sides of the paper start vibrating which produce sound. but when the paper is wet the fibers get stuck up to each other and the vibrations are less hence sound is less.
