Mufflers are usually attached to the exhaust pipe and are the last part of the emissions system. A muffler is made of metal and tends to sit beneath the rear bumper on the right hand side of most cars. On many large trucks and diesel engine automobiles the pipe may be located above the cab of the truck. The reduction of sound is not the only purpose of the muffler in that is the pathway for harmful gases to safely move from the engine of the car into the path behind the automobile.
The sound and gas from the engine is pushed through the emission system until it enters into the muffler. The sound is then interfered through a series of a serious of baffles in the middle of a resonation chamber. Even though there are baffles inside the muffler, the most common baffles are the sound barriers that are alongside highways near residential areas. The sound waves are bounced around inside the muffler until two of them hit each other. This redirection and cancellation cause the sounds to cancel each other out so that the sound is decreased immensely through the actions of the muffler.