I get constructive and deconstructive, but those are usually in the context of being the same frequency and just being out of phase. I’m talking like…you and your bud having a conversation in a restaurant, with music playing, convos around you, sound of wait staff, etc. If a waiter drops a plate, how does that sound transit through at that higher, unique frequency through all the other noise so that all can hear it?
Thank you for your time!
In: Physics
sounds cancel perfectly when they are 1. Coming from exactly the same place 2. Exactly the same volume 3. Exactly opposite phase.
Since sound is vibration, (vibrating up and down), perfectly ‘out of phase’ means every time sound A vibrates up, sound B vibrates down, so while both are still moving, you don’t hear them where YOU are.
in anything that’s not that perfect scenario (and headphones can do that because it’s all happening inside the electronics), the math is too complicated to perfectly cancel things. mostly, things get drowned out by one thing being louder. A breaking plate is quite loud, but very short, and can be heard in most places if you are nearby. Next to a jet engine though, a loud concert, or at a gun range, you probably wouldn’t hear it because other things are louder.
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