Beat Frequency

[sabdul]

Would someone please explain to me using an example what the **** beat frequency is all about? I've been given the formula and understand that it's the difference between the constructive and destructive points of 2 waves...Is that right?...What use can come out of this concept? Thanks! ---> Using EK books btw...

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[Karloff]

this website explains it pretty good.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/sound_beat.htm

 

[VanBrown]

beat frequency is the frequency at which you hear a beat between two waves that are slightly off frequency...

those questions are usually really easy since you just subtract one from the other and take the absolute value.

 

[EkramVahsedi86]

My personal advice is to download Audacity, a free software program

audacity.soundforge.net

generate two waves, one at 220 Hz and one at 227 Hz and you can hear the 7 beats per second!!!

(this program calls a wave a tone because musicians don't realize that sound is physics so they have their own set of lingo: tone is wave, amplitude is timbre, rythm is tempo, etc...)

as you can tell from my screen image, I just did all this in like 2 minutes for you and I hope you ace any questions on beat frequency on the mcat! Now click play and you can hear the beats! You'll never forget!

If you just want a non-hands-on explanation, then I have zoomed in close enough for you to see the second image zooms in between 0.000 seconds and 0.070

There looks to be about 17 cycles on the top waves and about 16 cycles on the bottom wave, granted this is in under 1/10th of a second so I did the math for you anyways:

220 Hz * .07 seconds = 15.4 cycles
227 Hz * .07 seconds = 15.89 cycles

Because frequency * time = number of cycles

Beats = Frequency_1 minus Frequency_2 and has units "cycles per second" which we call Hertz (Hz)

 

[Optimator]

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[EkramVahsedi86]

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We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play them. If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.