Can you describe at least two physics concepts in music?

Question

Anything is much appreciated and tons of help! Thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

I can list two for you, describing them will be unnecessary since you'll recognize them immediately.

1) Acoustics, including time, space, speed of sound, compression and rarefaction, waveform equations of frequency vs amplitude vs wavelength, absorption coefficients, structure borne conduction, et cetera. Think about how these apply to the composition of a musical instrument and how that affects it's timbre, amplitude, and range and so on.

2) Atoms, without which, from the view of conventional physics, there is no media via which sound can be conveyed.

Answer 2

Both have to do with sound waves

Acoustics: The science of Sound. Its production, transmission and effects.

Harmonics: Periodic motion whose frequency is a whole-number multiple of some fundamental frequency.

Answer 3

Sure.

First you can do the motion of strings on string instruments [wave motion]. Or the effects that tubes have on the waves [brass instruments].

Then you can do sound [ok its still waves but the two are unique].

We did this stuff in physics =D

Answer 4

For all stringed instruments it is wave length; the longer the string the deeper the tone when you strum the instrument or use the bow you are vibrating those strings and how you finger it determines the wavelength.  So wavelength formulas will matter the most here. (wavelength = velocity / frequency)

In air and reed instruments it is all about the volume of air flow.  A slide trombone changes in tone as the slide is pulled in and out; the distance that the air has to travel in the instrument determines the tone.  That is why a 1' piccolo is of a higher pitch than a 2' long flute.  So formulas on air flow and air volume will matter the most.  When figuring out air flow scientists pretend that air is a very light liquid and use liquid formulas like Boyle's Laws on Gases:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyle%27s_L...

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_measur...

"The frequency is measured and the flow rate is calculated by the flowmeter electronics.

With f= SV/L where,

    * f = the frequency of the vortices

    * L = the characteristic length of the bluff body

    * V = the velocity of the flow over the bluff body

    * S = Strouhal number, which is essentially a constant for a given body shape within its operating limits."

For drums or any beaten instrument it is the vibrations produced.  The material, the tension on it, the way you strike it and what you use all help to determine the tone.  A bigger drum has a deeper tone, steel drums are beaten and polished so that if you hit a different spot you get a different tone, you can get as many as 30 different spots on the bottom of an oil drum that produce a different tone because of how thin they are sanded, how flat or curved they are and how wide they are.  Here you can have all the material sciences, and wavelengths formulas as well as stress formulas.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_(phy...

" sigma = F/A},

where

- sigma is the average stress, also called engineering or nominal stress, and

- F is the force acting over the area A.

ALL of musics is based on the vibrations of air molecules; this is how the sound is conducted."

If you look at this Wikipedia article on Vibrations:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrations you can find over 20 different physics formulas having to do with vibrations.

All instruments are made out of materials.  What makes a Stradivarius Violin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivariu... so valuable is the care and materials that go into it.  The glue, the wood, the species of wood, how it is cut and so on.  So far no one has been able to duplicate his work.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_s...

"Materials science or materials engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. This science investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scale and their macroscopic properties. It includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. With significant media attention to nanoscience and nanotechnology in recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities. It is also an important part of forensic engineering and forensic materials engineering, the study of failed products and components."

All of the fields mentioned above involve some form of physics.  If you think about it a sound synthesizer, amp, and electric guitar are all electrical using electronics formulas.