Introduction to the special issue on education in acoustics

Daniel A Russell1, Preston S Wilson2

  • 1Graduate Program in Acoustics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.

Summary

This special issue highlights 41 papers on acoustics education, covering diverse teaching methods, learning tools, and program descriptions. It addresses the need for more educational content in acoustics research and practice.

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Sound as Pressure Waves01:17

Sound as Pressure Waves

Sound waves, which are longitudinal waves, can be modeled as the displacement amplitude varying as a function of the spatial and temporal coordinates. As a column of the medium is displaced, its successive columns are also displaced. As the successive displacements differ relatively, a pressure difference with the surrounding pressure is created. The gauge pressure varies across the medium.
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Sound Waves: Resonance01:14

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Resonance is produced depending on the boundary conditions imposed on a wave. Resonance can be produced in a string under tension with symmetrical boundary conditions (i.e., has a node at each end). A node is defined as a fixed point where the string does not move. The symmetrical boundary conditions result in some frequencies resonating and producing standing waves, while other frequencies interfere destructively. Sound waves can resonate in a hollow tube, and the frequencies of the sound...
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Resonance in an AC Circuit01:26

Resonance in an AC Circuit

The property of an inductor makes it resist any change in the current passing through it, while the property of a capacitor is to build up the charge across its terminals. Hence, if an inductor and capacitor are connected in series, they have opposite effects on the relative phase between current and voltage. The current through the circuit undergoes forced oscillation at the frequency of the source. The resistance term in an R-L-C circuit acts as a damping term because power is dissipated...
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Intensity and Pressure of Sound Waves01:05

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The intensity of sound waves can be related to displacement and pressure amplitudes by using their wave expressions and the definition of intensity. The critical step to achieve this is to write the power delivered by the particles on the wave as the product of force and velocity and simplify the force per unit area as the pressure. The velocity of the medium's particles can be derived from the displacement.
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Perception of Sound Waves01:01

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The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
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Sound Waves: Interference00:53

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Sound waves can be modeled either as longitudinal waves, wherein the molecules of the medium oscillate around an equilibrium position, or as pressure waves. When two identical waves from the same source superimpose on each other, the combination of two crests or two troughs results in amplitude reinforcement known as constructive interference. If two identical waves, that are initially in phase, become out of phase because of different path lengths, the combination of crests with troughs...
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