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Re: sound wavelength and parabola size

Subject: Re: sound wavelength and parabola size
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2003 21:46:00 -0500
Walter Knapp wrote:
> Jim Lee wrote:
>
>>I have been following this thread for some time now. Very interesting
>>and informative. Now I have come to wonder if the varying perceptions of=

>>the expected behavior of waves hitting a parabolic reflector are not
>>based on the varying ways we visualize waves. It is common practice  to
>>illustrate sound waves using the familiar sine wave graph. While that
>>does help us understand issues of frequency and amplitude, it does not
>>help very much in visualizing how sound waves actually travel through
>>air or any other medium. I think it might be helpful to make the
>>distinction between transverse waves (which often tend to look
>>sinusoidal) and longitudinal waves (which are a little harder to
>>illustrate easily). Here are a couple of sites that I find helpful in
>>the visualizations.
>>
>>http://www.gmi.edu/~drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
>>http://www.cbu.edu/~jvarrian/applets/waves1/lontra_g.htm
>>
>>Jim Lee
>>
>
>
> I personally believe that this is a major part of the problem. The
> entire model of how a parabolic reflector, or any other sound apparatus
> interacts with sound is generally based on only one view for a good
> many. Which is how you get these differences between theory and practice.
>
> Walt
> 

Forgot to add, neat site! I'd not run across that one. Quite a bit more
there, like the acoustics of a baseball bat. Unfortunately no parabolic
dish per se.

Walt




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