fun with soundwaves
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 10:01 am
today in school, i learned the formula to determine the frequency of the lowest standing wave in any given space.
if you play the corresponding frequency as an audio test tone out of your speakers (the louder, the more fun),
you can then walk around the room, and with any change in position within the room (left, right, up down, forward, backward),
the way you perceive the tone changes drastically, from the loudest amplitude of the signal you are playing to near silence,
within a mere couple of feet from one another. it is tripped the fuck out, indeed.

it feels like you're controlling the volume of your system with the motion of your head, but really you're moving your ears
into and out of areas of the room where the sound wave for your test frequency has reflected off of another surface and
is returning as the mirror image of itself, cancelling out the sound where it is most similar.
try it yourself! here's the formula: λ = V/l
where:
V = 1,130ft/sec (in a room with a temperature of 70 degrees F. if your temp is higher, increase V by 1.1ft/sec in the equation)
l = length of the room in the direction the speaker is facing
λ = will be your test tone frequency, expressed in Hz
for example, my room measured at 18ft in length, my current temp is 75 degrees F, so:
V = 1,135.5
l = 18
λ = 1135.5/18
63.08 = 1135.5/18
λ = 63.08Hz
if you play the corresponding frequency as an audio test tone out of your speakers (the louder, the more fun),
you can then walk around the room, and with any change in position within the room (left, right, up down, forward, backward),
the way you perceive the tone changes drastically, from the loudest amplitude of the signal you are playing to near silence,
within a mere couple of feet from one another. it is tripped the fuck out, indeed.

it feels like you're controlling the volume of your system with the motion of your head, but really you're moving your ears
into and out of areas of the room where the sound wave for your test frequency has reflected off of another surface and
is returning as the mirror image of itself, cancelling out the sound where it is most similar.
try it yourself! here's the formula: λ = V/l
where:
V = 1,130ft/sec (in a room with a temperature of 70 degrees F. if your temp is higher, increase V by 1.1ft/sec in the equation)
l = length of the room in the direction the speaker is facing
λ = will be your test tone frequency, expressed in Hz
for example, my room measured at 18ft in length, my current temp is 75 degrees F, so:
V = 1,135.5
l = 18
λ = 1135.5/18
63.08 = 1135.5/18
λ = 63.08Hz