How do earphones create sound waves that are longer than the size of earphones themselves?
In: Technology
Imagine hanging out the back of a pickup truck with a stick with a paint brush on the end.
You wave the stick back and forth as the truck drives along the road.
Now go back and look at the paint on the road. You’ll see a wave pattern.
If the truck was driven at a constant speed and you waved the stick back and forth at the same speed then there will be the same distance between peaks on the wave pattern.
But if you went back and did it again, truck at the same speed but this time you waved the stick back and forth much slower than the first time, you’ll find there is much more distance between the peaks.
This makes sense because during the time it took you to wave the stick from one side of the truck to the other side and back again, the truck has traveled a longer distance on the road.
Sound works the same way. Sound moves through the air at the same speed no matter the frequency. So high frequency sounds have a shorter wavelength because the sound doesn’t travel as far before it completes a cycle.
Lower frequency sounds have a longer wavelength because they travel farther during a complete cycle.
Notice that none of this had anything to do with the size of the speaker just like the size of the paint brush doesn’t matter only the speed of the truck and how fast you want the stick.
Latest Answers