Introduction to P105
Welcome to P105, the Basic Physics of Sound. This course will introduce you to basic ideas of physics and apply them to the production and perception of sound, the propagation of sound waves and the electronic reproduction of sound.
I'm certain that nearly all of you are in a program of study where sound is very important (Audio Technology, Interior Design, Music, Speech and Hearing). I hope to find out more about your interests as this semester progresses. To be honest, you are probably more expert than I in certain aspects about sound. My expertise is physics. So what does physics have to do with sound?
Physics and Sound
Physics has a different perspective on sound and other phenomena than other disciplines of study. In physics, the emphasis is on quantitative understanding. The Physics of Sound addresses questions such as
- what exactly is sound?
- how do we quantify sound?
- how is sound produced?
- how is sound perceived?
- how is sound transported from the source to the receiver?
- how does our environment affect sound?
- how is sound preserved and reproduced?
These questions are likely of a different type than what you have encountered in your other courses. Before we can address questions of this type, we need to introduce some basic ideas of physics. Included in these basic ideas are
- sound, and other phenomena, can be observed and reproducibly measured.
- there are basic Laws of Nature that can explain measurements.
- those same Laws of Nature can predict phenomena. Predictions can be confirmed by later measurements.
The Language of Physics
Probably one of the hardest things that students encounter about physics is language. Oftentimes, physicists use words that have very specific meanings that differ from everyday usage. I'm sure that all of you use words such as force, energy, waves, etc. nearly everyday. A physicist has a very specific meaning to such words. So specific, that words alone don't suffice. We resort to mathematical definitions so that we are not faced with the ambiguities of spoken and written language based on words. Through this semester we will be using some basic mathematics in this introduction to the Physics of Sound. I'm guessing that many of you don't have an extensive background in mathematics. That's okay! I'll introduce the mathematical concepts as we need them and try to keep it all to a minimum!
Another emphasis in this course will be on the use of graphs to represent the outcome of measurements and predictions from basic physical laws. Graphical representations are almost a more important form of communication in physics than mathematical equations. We'll spend some time at the beginning of the semester discussing graphical representations.
Finally, physics differs from other subjects because of its emphasis on reasoning. Almost all physicists agree that understanding means the ability to apply ideas to new situations. In this course, you will be asked questions of this type on quizzes and examinations. To get used to this, I will give many examples of problem solving in our class meetings. There will also be homework for you to hone your problem-solving skills. See the P105 home page for more detail about what I expect from you.