The Britannica Guide to Sound and Light

286 Pages·2010·4.98 MB·English

by  Britannica Educational Publishing, Erik Gregersen

The Britannica Guide to
Sound and Light
PHYSICS EXPLAINED
The Britannica Guide to
Sound and Light
EDITED BY ERIK GREGERSEN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
Published in 2011 by Britannica Educational Publishing
(a trademark of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)
in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC
29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010.
Copyright © 2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica,
and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopædia Britannica,
Inc. All
rights reserved.
Rosen Educational Services materials copyright © 2011 Rosen Educational
Services, LLC.
All rights reserved.
Distributed exclusively by Rosen Educational Services.
For a listing of additional Britannica Educational Publishing titles, call toll
free [phone].
First Edition
Britannica Educational Publishing Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor
J.E. Luebering: Senior Manager
Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control Steven Bosco:
Director, Editorial Technologies Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data
Editor Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor
Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Media Acquisition Erik Gregersen: Associate
Editor, Science and Technology Rosen Educational Services Nicholas Croce:
Editor
Nelson Sá: Art Director
Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager
Matthew Cauli: Designer, Cover Design
Introduction by Jennifer Capuzzo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Britannica guide to sound and light / edited by Erik Gregersen.
p. cm. — (Physics explained) “In association with Britannica Educational
Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530374-8 (eBook)
1. Sound—Popular works. 2. Light—Popular works. I. Gregersen, Erik. II.
Title: Guide
to sound and light. III. Title: Sound and light.
QC225.3.G85 2011
534—dc22
2010013444
On the cover, p. iii: This graphic shows sound waves displayed on an
oscilloscope. © www.istockphoto.com/Clearview images
On page x: Prisms are able to break up white light into its component colors.
Shutterstock.com
On page xviii: This graphic shows sound waves displayed on an oscilloscope.
Shutterstock.com
On pages 1, 57, 69, 81, 147, 199, 223, 287, 332, 334, 336, 340: Shown here
are sound waves represented on the screen of a device that measures the
output of sound. Shutterstock.com
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Sound
Plane Waves
Wavelength, Period, and Frequency
Amplitude and Intensity
The Decibel Scale
The Speed of Sound
Circular and Spherical Waves
Attenuation
Diffraction
Refraction
Reflection
Impedance
Interference
The Doppler Effect
Sonic Booms
Standing Waves
In Stretched Strings
In Air Columns
In Solid Rods
In Nonharmonic Systems
Steady-State Waves and Spectral Analysis
The Sound Spectrograph
Generation by Musical Instruments
The Human Voice
Noise
Hearing
Dynamic Range of the Ear
The Ear as Spectrum Analyzer
Binaural Perception
Environmental Noise
Chapter 2: Acoustics
Early Experimentation
Modern Advances
Amplifying, Recording, and Reproducing
Architectural Acoustics
Reverberation Time
Acoustic Criteria
Acoustic Problems
Chapter 3: Beyond Human Hearing
Ultrasonics
Transducers
Applications in Research
Ranging and Navigating
The Doppler Effect
Materials Testing
High-Intensity Applications
Chemical and Electrical Uses
Medical Applications
Infrasonics
Chapter 4: Light
Theories of Light Through History
Ray Theories in the Ancient World
Early Particle and Wave Theories
Geometrical Optics: Light as Rays
Light Rays
Reflection and Refraction
Total Internal Reflection
Dispersion
Light as a Wave
Characteristics of Waves
Interference