How speakers can make so many different sounds at once when they only have one membrane

Question

How speakers can make so many different sounds at once when they only have one membrane

In: Physics

Answer 1

A single note is a sinewave. Multiple notes is a [more complex waveform](https://www-users.cse.umn.edu/~rogness/math1155/soundwaves/chord.png). All a speaker has to do is follow the path of the waveform.

To a speaker there are no “different sounds at once” just a waveform it’s fed. It’s your ears that decipher it (as we have heard these instruments before and also their harmonic profile, so our brain works its magic to parse the different singers and instruments).