Luke Keller

Professor, Physics and Astronomy
School: School of Humanities and Sciences

Details for students enrolled in this course (syllabus, assignments, schedules, etc.) are available on our Canvas web site.

These web links point to sites that may be useful in illustrating and demonstrating some of the concepts we discuss in class. Luke Keller does not maintain these sites, nor is he responsible for their content. Please report broken links and suggest new links.

Hyperphysics

Physics demos

Acoustics and Vibration Animations

Properties of waves turorial

Properties of sound waves tutorial

Wave superposition and interference

Resonance in an oscillating system (mass and spring)

Standing waves on a string

Standing waves VIDEO 1

Standing waves VIDEO 2

Standing waves VIDEO 3

Standing transverse waves (on a string) video

Standing longitudinal waves (on a sPring) video

Wave, refraction, diffraction, and interference demo

Addition of waves demo

Two-channel tone generator

Beats and beat frequency demo

Doppler Effect demo

Equal Loudness Curves

Sound intensity (very detailed)

Physics of Musical Instruments

Wave Synthesis

Standing Waves in a Pipe

Simulated Sound Production on Strings and Drums

Standing Waves on Drums

Microphones

Microphone specifications

Electrostatic speakers and Audio spotlight

Audio Signal sampling and digital audio file formats

How CDs and DVDs work   (burning CDs)

How magnetic media work

How flash memory works

Harmonic singing   Chanticleer harmonic singing performance

Physics of musical instruments

Guitar vibration modes

Standing Waves on Plucked Strings

Standing Waves on Bowed Strings

Room acoustics

Seismic Waves

Evelyn Glennie TED Talk 2003

Welcome to Physics of Sound!

Why do different musical instruments have their distinctive sounds? How do microphones work? How do digital and analog recording work? Does the weather affect sound? How do humans hear and perceive sound? This course is an introduction to sound and its interaction with humans and matter in the world around us. We will explore the physics of sound waves as well as basic sound analysis techniques and technology. The Physics of Sound is an introductory course intended for non-science majors. We'll spend the first half of the semester exploring the fundamental physical properties of sound and then use the remaining time in the semester to investigate applications of the physics of sound from analysis of musical instruments, including the human voice, to animal sounds, to ultra-sonic imaging technology, and even how sound can be used to run a refrigerator! I run the classroom in a very interactive way with plenty of time devoted to discussion and answering questions; you will learn physics by doing physics, not just hearing me talk about it.


Learning Objectives

Students in The Physics of Sound will learn to:

  • describe and apply the basic physics concepts necessary for understanding sound, the production and recording of sound, and human hearing;
  • use estimation and simple calculations of physical quantities to obtain meaningful results;
  • effectively summarize and communicate scientific and technical information;
  • apply basic experimental techniques and data analysis procedures specific to the science and technology of sound; and
  • be more informed and confident consumers of scientific and technical information.