how ignorant are you?

[smoothmoniker]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

re:sound -- when you are hearing two tones simultaneously, are the vibrations of each tone occupying the same space simultaneously? and if they are, why don't the vibrations interfere with each other and change the tones? How can the two frequencies coexist? If you drop a stone in the water, and then drop a bigger stone, the bigger vibration trumps the little one.

Kind of

When two waves of pressure occupy the same space, they combine additively. If you drop a small stone with a 1 inch wave, and then a large stone with a 2 foot wave, when the two of them occupy the same space, the wave will be 2'1" high. The same thing with sound frequencies in a space. When a large wave and a small wave occupy the same space, they combine additively.

The reason they don't all get mashed up is that our ears are very, very good at reversing the process. They can listen to an complex waveform and pick out the composing simple waves.

[lookout123]

our ears are very, very good at reversing the process.

until they are damaged from long periods of listening to the sounds you enjoy the most at high volumes... then the background noise of everyday life can be a real bitch.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Kind of

When two waves of pressure occupy the same space, they combine additively. If you drop a small stone with a 1 inch wave, and then a large stone with a 2 foot wave, when the two of them occupy the same space, the wave will be 2'1" high. The same thing with sound frequencies in a space. When a large wave and a small wave occupy the same space, they combine additively.

The reason they don't all get mashed up is that our ears are very, very good at reversing the process. They can listen to an complex waveform and pick out the composing simple waves.

sm, perhaps and explanation of frequency versus amplitude would help here. Strictly speaking, two waves of equal frequency, each having an amplitued of 2'1", but one is from a pair of rocks like you described and the other from a single rock that makes that same wave would be indistinguishable from each other.

regarding the record player example, it's just like the speaker/microphone example. the physical movement of the needle in the wavy groove moves back and forth as it follows the sides of the groove on the record. As it swings left and right, it moves inside a coil of wire. This movement inside a coil of wire induces a current in the wire, which is then amplified, just like the other examples.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Kind of

When two waves of pressure occupy the same space, they combine additively. If you drop a small stone with a 1 inch wave, and then a large stone with a 2 foot wave, when the two of them occupy the same space, the wave will be 2'1" high. The same thing with sound frequencies in a space. When a large wave and a small wave occupy the same space, they combine additively.

The reason they don't all get mashed up is that our ears are very, very good at reversing the process. They can listen to an complex waveform and pick out the composing simple waves.

sm, perhaps and explanation of frequency versus amplitude would help here. Strictly speaking, two waves of equal frequency, each having an amplitude of 2'1", but one is from a pair of rocks like you described and the other from a single rock that makes that same wave would be indistinguishable from each other.

regarding the record player example, it's just like the speaker/microphone example. the physical movement of the needle in the wavy groove moves back and forth as it follows the sides of the groove on the record. As it swings left and right, it moves inside a coil of wire. This movement inside a coil of wire induces a current in the wire, which is then amplified, just like the other examples.

[lookout123]

thought it was that important of point, didja/