Other types of frequency

Angular frequency ω (in radiansper second), is larger than frequencyν (in

cycles per second, also calledHz), by a factor of 2π.

 Angular frequency ω is defined as the rate of change

of angular displacement (during rotation), or in the phase of
a sinusoidal waveform (e.g. in oscillations and waves):
.
Angular frequency is measured in radians per second
(rad/s).
 Spatial frequency is analogous to temporal frequency,
but the time axis is replaced by one or more spatial
displacement axes.
 Wavenumber is the spatial analogue of angular
frequency. In case of more than one spatial dimension,
wavenumber is a vector quantity.
 Frequency of waves
 Frequency has an inverse relationship to the concept
of wavelength; simply, frequency is inversely
proportional to wavelength λ (lambda). The
frequency f is equal to the phase velocity v of
the wavedivided by the wavelength λ of the wave:


 In the special case of electromagnetic waves moving
through a vacuum, then v = c , where c is the speed of
light in a vacuum, and this expression becomes:


  When waves from a monochrome source travel from
one medium to another, their frequency remains exactly
the same — only their wavelength and speed change.

Frequency
For other uses, see Frequency (disambiguation).

Three flashing lights, from lowest frequency (top) to highest frequency

(bottom). f is the frequency in Hertz("Hz"), meaning the number of flashes per
second. T is the period in seconds ("s"), meaning the number of seconds per
flash. T and f are reciprocals.

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per

unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.
The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so
the period is the reciprocal of the frequency. Loosely speaking,
1 year is the period of the Earth's orbit around the Sun,[1] and
the Earth's rotation on its axis has a frequency of 1 rotation per
day.[2]
3. Characteristics of Sound
A sound can be characterized by the following three quantities:
(i) Pitch.
(ii) Quality.
(iii) Loudness.
Pitch is the frequency of a sound as perceived by human ear. A
high frequency gives rise to a high pitch note and a low frequency
produces a low pitch note. Figure 2 shows the frequencies of same
common sounds.

Figure 2 Frequency and Wavelength of Everyday Sound

A pure tone is the sound of only one frequency, such as that given
by a tuning fork or electronic signal generator.
The fundamental note has the greatest amplitude and is heard
predominantly because it has a larger intensity. The other
frequencies such as 2fo, 3fo, 4fo, ............. are
called overtones or harmonics and they determine the quality of
the sound.
Loudness is a physiological sensation. It depends mainly on sound
pressure but also on the spectrum of the harmonics and the physical
duration.
The frequency of sound is the number of air pressure oscillations per second at a fixed
point occupied by a sound wave.
The amplitude is the magnitude of sound pressure change within the wave. Basically this is
the maximum amount of pressure at any point in the sound wave. A sound wave is caused
literally by increases in pressure at certain points causing a "domino effect" outward, the
higher pressure points are the crests in a sound wave, and behind them are low pressure
points which tail them. These are known as the troughs on a wavelength graph. Sound's
propagation Velocity depends largely on the type, temperature and pressure of the
medium through which it propagates. Because air is nearly a perfect gas, the speed of
sound does not depend on air pressure.
The frequency range of sound that is audible to humans is approx. between 20 and 20,000
Hz. This range of course varies between individuals, and goes down as are age increases.
Sounds will begin to damage our ears at 85 dBSPL and sounds above approximately 130
dBSPL will cause pain, as a result are known as the: "threshold of pain". Of course again
this range will vary among individuals and will change with age.

Sound in brief but remarkeable terms is a vibration, that

our ears percieve by the sense of hearing. Most
commonly vibrations travel to our ears via the air. The
ear then converts these sound waves into nerve impulses
that are sent to our brains, where the impulses become
sound. To say all that in a more technical language:
Sound "is an alternation in pressure, particle
displacement, or particle velocity propagated in an elastic
material" (Olson 1957). Sound is also a series of
mechanical compressions and rarefactions or longitudinal
waves that successively propagate through media that
are at least a little compressible. What causes sound
waves is known as "the source of waves". Examples of
sounds sources is: A violin string that vibrates upon
being bowed or plucked.

Frequency of Sound
Sound is the quickly varying pressure wave travelling through a medium. When
sound travels through air, the atmospheric pressure varies periodically. The number
of pressure variations per second is called the frequency of sound, and is measured in
 Hertz (Hz) which is defined as cycles per second.
The higher the frequency, the more high-pitched a sound is perceived. The sounds
produced by drums have much lower frequencies than those produced by a whistle,
as shown in the following diagrams. Please click on the demo button to hear their
sounds and the difference in pitch.

The crest factor or peak-to-average ratio (PAR) or peak-

to-average power ratio (PAPR) is a measurement of
a waveform, calculated from the peak amplitude of the waveform
divided by the RMSvalue of the waveform.

Examples
DC voltages have a crest factor of 1 since the RMS and the peak
amplitude are equal, and it is the same for a square
wave (irrespective of duty cycle).
This table provides values for some other normalized waveforms:

Crest
Wavefo Peak magnitude (r RMS va Crest
Wave type factor
rm ectified) lue factor
(dB)

DC 1 1 1 0.0 dB

3.01
Sine wave 1
[1]
dB

Full-wave 3.01
1
rectified sine [1]
dB

Half-wave 6.02
1 [1
rectified sine ]
dB

4.77
Triangle wave 1
dB
 Square wave 1 1 1 0 dB

PWM-Signal 1
[1]
dB

3.5–4
QPSK
dB
6.5–8.1
8VSB
dB [2]
64QAM 7.7 dB
128QAM 8.2 dB
WCDMA do 10.6
wnlink carrier dB
OFDM ~12 dB

Refraction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the property of metals, see refraction (metallurgy). For the
magic effect, see David Penn (magician). For the refraction in
atmosphere, see Atmospheric refraction.
An image of the Golden Gate Bridge is refracted and bent by many differing
three dimensional drops of water

Refraction in a Perspex (acrylic) block.

Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change

in its speed. This is most commonly observed when a wave
passes from one medium to another at any angle other than 90°
or 0°. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed
phenomenon, but any type of wave can refract when it interacts
with a medium, for example when sound waves pass from one
medium into another or when water waves move into water of a
different depth. Refraction is described by Snell's law, which
states that the angle of incidence θ1 is related to the angle of
refraction θ2 by
where v1 and v2 are the wave velocities in the respective
media, and n1 and n2 the refractive indices. In general, the
incident wave is partially refracted and partially reflected; the
details of this behavior are described by the Fresnel
equations.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Explanation
• 2 Clinical
significance
• 3 Acoustics
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

[edit]Explanation

Refraction of light waves in water. The dark rectangle represents the

actual position of a pencil sitting in a bowl of water. The light rectangle
represents the apparent position of the pencil. Notice that the end (X)
looks like it is at (Y), a position that is considerably shallower than (X).
The straw appears to be broken, due to refraction of light as it emerges
into the air.

Refraction of light at the interface between two media of

different refractive indices, with n2 > n1. Since the phase velocity is lower
in the second medium (v2 < v1), the angle of refraction θ2 is less than the
angle of incidence θ1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer
to the normal.
Light on air–plexi surface in this experiment mainly undergoes refraction
(lower ray) and to a lesser extent reflection(top ray)

Photograph of refraction of waves in aripple tank

Diagram of refraction of water waves

In optics, refraction occurs when waves travel from a medium

with a given refractive index to a medium with another at an
angle. At the boundary between the media, the wave's phase
velocity is altered, usually causing a change in direction.
Its wavelength increases or decreases but
its frequency remains constant. For example, a light ray will
refract as it enters and leaves glass, assuming there is a
change in refractive index. A ray traveling along the normal
(perpendicular to the boundary) will change speed, but not
direction. Refraction still occurs in this case. Understanding of
this concept led to the inventionof lenses and the refracting
telescope. Refraction can be seen when looking into a bowl of
water. Air has a refractive index of about 1.0003, and water
has a refractive index of about 1.33. If a person looks at a
straight object, such as a pencil or straw, which is placed at a
slant, partially in the water, the object appears to bend at the
water's surface. This is due to the bending of light rays as they
move from the water to the air. Once the rays reach the eye,
the eye traces them back as straight lines (lines of sight). The
lines of sight (shown as dashed lines) intersect at a higher
position than where the actual rays originated. This causes the
pencil to appear higher and the water to appear shallower than
it really is. The depth that the water appears to be when
viewed from above is known as the apparent depth. This is an
important consideration for spearfishing from the surface
because it will make the target fish appear to be in a different
place, and the fisher must aim lower to catch the fish.
The diagram on the right shows an example of refraction
in water waves. Ripples travel from the left and pass over a
shallower region inclined at an angle to the wavefront. The
waves travel more slowly in the shallower water, so the
wavelength decreases and the wave bends at the boundary.
The dotted line represents the normal to the boundary. The
dashed line represents the original direction of the waves. This
phenomenon explains why waves on a shoreline tend to strike
the shore close to a perpendicular angle. As the waves travel
from deep water into shallower water near the shore, they are
refracted from their original direction of travel to an angle more
normal to the shoreline.[1] Refraction is also responsible
for rainbows and for the splitting of white light into a rainbow-
spectrum as it passes through a glass prism. Glass has a
higher refractive index than air. When a beam of white light
passes from air into a material having an index of refraction
that varies with frequency, a phenomenon known
as dispersion occurs, in which different coloured components
of the white light are refracted at different angles, i.e., they
bend by different amounts at the interface, so that they
become separated. The different colors correspond to different
frequencies.
While refraction allows for beautiful phenomena such as
rainbows, it may also produce peculiar optical phenomena,
such as mirages and Fata Morgana. These are caused by the
change of the refractive index of air with temperature.
Recently some metamaterials have been created which have
a negative refractive index. With metamaterials, we can also
obtain total refraction phenomena when the wave impedances
of the two media are matched. There is then no reflected
wave.[2]
Also, since refraction can make objects appear closer than
they are, it is responsible for allowing water to magnify objects.
First, as light is entering a drop of water, it slows down. If the
water's surface is not flat, then the light will be bent into a new
path. This round shape will bend the light outwards and as it
spreads out, the image you see gets larger.
A useful analogy in explaining the refraction of light would be
to imagine a marching band as they march at an oblique angle
from pavement (a fast medium) into mud (a slower medium).
The marchers on the side that runs into the mud first will slow
down first. This causes the whole band to pivot slightly toward
the normal (make a smaller angle from the normal).
[edit]Clinical significance
In medicine,
particularly optometry, ophthalmology and orthoptics, refractio
n (also known as refractometry) is a clinical test in which
a phoropter may be used by the appropriate eye care
professional to determine the eye's refractive error and the
best corrective lenses to be prescribed. A series of test lenses
in graded optical powers or focal lengths are presented to
determine which provide the sharpest, clearest vision.[3]
[edit]Acoustics
In underwater acoustics, refraction is the bending or curving of
a sound ray that results when the ray passes through a sound
speed gradient from a region of one sound speed to a region
of a different speed. The amount of ray bending is dependent
upon the amount of difference between sound speeds, that is,
the variation in temperature, salinity, and pressure of the
water.[4] Similar acoustics effects are also found in the Earth's
atmosphere. The phenomenon of refraction of sound in the
atmosphere has been known for centuries;[5] however,
beginning in the early 1970s, widespread analysis of this effect
came into vogue through the designing of
urban highways and noise barriers to address
the meteorological effects of bending of sound rays in the
lower atmosphere.[6]
[edit]See also
 cycle

Refraction
Wavelength
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Wavelength (disambiguation).

Wavelength of a sine wave, λ, can be measured between any two points with
the same phase, such as between crests, or troughs, or corresponding zero
crossingsas shown.

In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial

period of the wave – the distance over which the wave's shape
repeats.[1] It is usually determined by considering the distance
between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase,
such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a characteristic
of both traveling waves and standing waves, as well as other
spatial wave patterns.[2][3] Wavelength is commonly designated by
the Greek letterlambda (λ). The concept can also be applied to
periodic waves of non-sinusoidal shape.[1][4] The
term wavelength is also sometimes applied to modulatedwaves,
and to the sinusoidal envelopes of modulated waves or waves
formed by interference of several sinusoids.[5]
Assuming a sinusoidal wave moving at a fixed wave speed,
wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency: waves with
higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths, and lower
frequencies have longer wavelengths.[6]
Examples of wave-like phenomena are sound waves, light,
and water waves. A sound wave is a periodic variation in
air pressure, while in light and otherelectromagnetic radiation the
strength of the electric and the magnetic field vary. Water waves
are periodic variations in the height of a body of water. In a
crystal lattice vibration, atomic positions vary periodically in both
lattice position and time.
Wavelength is a measure of the distance between repetitions of a
shape feature such as peaks, valleys, or zero-crossings, not a
measure of how far any given particle moves. For example, in
waves over deep water a particle in the water moves in a circle of
the same diameter as the wave height, unrelated to wavelength.[7]
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Sinusoidal waves
○ 1.1 Standing waves
○ 1.2 Mathematical
representation
○ 1.3 General media
 1.3.1 Nonunifor
m media
 1.3.2 Crystals
• 2 More general waveforms
○ 2.1 Envelope waves
○ 2.2 Wave packets
• 3 Interference and
diffraction
○ 3.1 Double-slit
interference
○ 3.2 Single-slit
 diffraction
○ 3.3 Diffraction-limited
resolution
• 4 Subwavelength
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

[edit]Sinusoidal waves
In linear media, any wave pattern can be described in terms of the
independent propagation of sinusoidal components.
The wavelength λ of a sinusoidal waveform traveling at constant
speed v is given by:[8]

Refraction: when a plane waveencounters a medium in which it has a

slower speed, the wavelength decreases, and the direction adjusts
accordingly.

where v is called the phase speed (magnitude of the phase

velocity) of the wave and f is the wave's frequency.
In the case of electromagnetic radiation—such as light—
in free space, the phase speed is the speed of light,
about 3×108 m/s. For sound waves in air, thespeed of sound is
343 m/s (1238 km/h) (at room temperature and atmospheric
pressure). As an example, the wavelength of a 100 MHz
electromagnetic (radio) wave is about: 3×108 m/s divided by
100×106 Hz = 3 metres.
Visible light ranges from deep red, roughly 700 nm, to violet,
roughly 400 nm (430–750 THz) (for other examples,
see electromagnetic spectrum). The wavelengths of sound
frequencies audible to the human ear (20 Hz–20 kHz) are
between approximately 17 m and 17 mm, respectively,
assuming a typicalspeed of sound of about 343 m/s; the
wavelengths in audible sound are much longer than those in
visible light.
Frequency and wavelength can change independently, but
only when the speed of the wave changes. For example, when
light enters another medium, its speed and wavelength
change while its frequency does not; this change of
wavelength causes refraction, or a change in propagation
direction of waves that encounter the interface between media
at an angle.

Sinusoidal standing waves in a box that constrains the end points to be

nodes will have an integer number of half wavelengths fitting in the box.
[edit]Standing waves

A standing wave (black) depicted as the sum of two propagating waves

traveling in opposite directions (red and blue).

A standing wave is an undulatory motion that stays in one

place. A sinusoidal standing wave includes stationary points of
no motion, called nodes, and the wavelength is twice the
distance between nodes. The wavelength, period, and wave
velocity are related as before, if the stationary wave is viewed
as the sum of two traveling sinusoidal waves of oppositely
directed velocities.[9]
[edit]Mathematical representation
Traveling sinusoidal waves are often represented
mathematically in terms of their velocity v (in the x direction),
frequency f and wavelength λ as:

where y is the value of the wave at any position x and

time t, and A is the amplitude of the wave. They are also
commonly expressed in terms of
(radian)wavenumber k (2π times the reciprocal of
wavelength) and angular frequency ω (2π times the
frequency) as:

in which wavelength and wavenumber are related to

velocity and frequency as:
or

Dispersion causes separation of colors when light is

refracted by a prism.

The relationship between ω and λ (or k) is called

a dispersion relation. This is not generally a
simple inverse relation because the wave
velocity itself typically varies with frequency.[10]

Wavelength is decreased in a medium with higher

refractive index.

In the second form given above, the

phase (kx − ωt) is often generalized to (k•r − ωt),
by replacing the wavenumber k with a wave
vector that specifies the direction and
wavenumber of a plane wave in 3-space,
parameterized by position vector r. In that case,
the wavenumber k, the magnitude of k, is still in
the same relationship with wavelength as shown
above, with v being interpreted as scalar speed
in the direction of the wave vector. The first form,
using reciprocal wavelength in the phase, does
not generalize as easily to a wave in an arbitrary
direction.
Generalizations to sinusoids of other phases,
and to complex exponentials, are also common;
see plane wave. The typical convention of using
the cosinephase instead of the sine phase when
describing a wave is based on the fact that the
cosine is the real part of the complex exponential
in the wave

[edit]General media
The speed of a wave depends upon the
medium in which it propagates. In particular,
the speed of light in most media is lower than
in vacuum, which means that the same
frequency will correspond to a shorter
wavelength in the medium than in vacuum.
The wavelength in the medium is

Various local wavelengths on a crest-to-crest

basis in an ocean wave approaching shore.[11]
where λ0 is the wavelength in vacuum,
and n(λ0) is the refractive index of the
medium, which varies with wavelength.
This variation, called dispersion, causes
different colors of light to be separated
when light is refracted by a prism.
When wavelengths of electromagnetic
radiation are quoted, the vacuum
wavelength is usually intended unless the
wavelength is specifically identified as the
wavelength in some other medium. In
acoustics, where a medium is essential
for the waves to exist, the wavelength
value is given for a specified medium.
[edit]Nonuniform media

A sinusoidal wave in a nonuniform medium, with

loss. As the wave slows down, the wavelength
gets shorter and the amplitude increases; after a
place of maximum response, the short
wavelength is associated with a high loss and the
wave dies out.

Wavelength can be a useful concept even

if the wave is not periodic in space. For
example, in an ocean wave approaching
shore, shown in the figure, the incoming
wave undulates with a
varying local wavelength that depends in
part on the depth of the sea floor
compared to the wave height. The
analysis of the wave can be based upon
comparison of the local wavelength with
the local water depth.[11]
Waves that are sinusoidal in time but
propagate through a medium whose
properties vary with position
(an inhomogeneous medium) may
propagate at a velocity that varies with
position, and as a result may not be
sinusoidal in space. The analysis
of differential equations of such systems
is often done approximately, using
the WKB method (also known as
the Liouville–Green method). The method
integrates phase through space using a
local wavenumber, which can be
interpreted as indicating a "local
wavelength" of the solution as a function
of time and space.[12][13] This method treats
the system locally as if it were uniform
with the local properties; in particular, the
local wave velocity associated with a
frequency is the only thing needed to
estimate the corresponding local
wavenumber or wavelength. In addition,
the method computes a slowly changing
amplitude to satisfy other constraints of
the equations or of the physical system,
such as for conservation of energy in the
wave.
[edit]Crystals

A wave on a line of atoms can be interpreted

according to a variety of wavelengths.

Waves in crystalline solids are not

continuous, because they are composed
of vibrations of discrete particles arranged
in a regular lattice. This
produces aliasingbecause the same
vibration can be considered to have a
variety of different wavelengths, as shown
in the figure.[14] Descriptions using more
than one of these wavelengths are
redundant; it is conventional to choose the
longest wavelength that fits the
phenomenon. The range of wavelengths
sufficient to provide a description of all
possible waves in a crystalline medium
corresponds to the wave vectors confined
to the Brillouin zone.[15]
This indeterminacy in wavelength in solids
is important in the analysis of wave
phenomena such as energy
bands and lattice vibrations. It is
mathematically equivalent to
the aliasing of a signal that is sampled at
discrete intervals.
[edit]More general waveforms
A wave moving in space is called
a traveling wave. If the shape repeats
itself, it is also a periodic wave.[16] In the
special case of uniform and
dispersionless media (see Dispersion
relation), at a fixed moment in time, a
snapshot of the wave shows a repeating
form in space, with characteristics such as
peaks and troughs repeating at equal
intervals. To an observer at a fixed
location the amplitude appears to vary in
time, and repeats itself with a
certainperiod, for example T. If the spatial
period of this wave is referred to as its
wavelength, then during every period, one
wavelength of the wave passes the
observer. In dispersion and uniform
media, the wave propagates with
unchanging shape and the velocity in the
medium is uniform, so this period implies
the wavelength is:
Near-periodic waves over shallow water have
sharper crests and flatter troughs than those
of a sinusoid.

This duality of space and time is

expressed mathematically by the fact
that, in such special media, the wave's
behavior does not depend
independently on position x and time t,
but rather on the combination of
position and time x − vt. The wave's
amplitude u is then expressed
as u(x − vt) and in the case of a
periodic function u with period λ, that
is, u(x + λ − vt) = u(x − vt), the
periodicity of u in space means that a
snapshot of the wave at a given
time t finds the wave varying
periodically in space with period λ. In a
similar fashion, this periodicity
of u implies a periodicity in time as
well: u(x − v(t + T)) = u(x − vt) using
the relation vT = λ described above, so
an observation of the wave at a fixed
location x finds the wave undulating
periodically in time with period T = λ/v.
[16]

Traveling waves with non-sinusoidal

wave shapes can occur in
linear dispersionless media such as
free space, but also may arise in
nonlinear media under certain
circumstances. For example, large-
amplitude ocean waves with certain
shapes can propagate unchanged,
because of properties of the nonlinear
surface-wave medium.[17] An example
is the cnoidal wave, a periodic
traveling wave named because it is
described by the Jacobian elliptic
function of m-th order, usually denoted
as cn (x; m).[18]
[edit]Envelope waves
The term wavelength is also
sometimes applied to the envelopes of
waves, such as the traveling
sinusoidal envelope patterns that
result from the interferenceof two
sinusoidal waves close in frequency;
such envelope characterizations are
used in illustrating the derivation
of group velocity, the speed at which
slow envelope variations propagate.[19]
[edit]Wave packets

A propagating wave packet; in general,

the envelope of the wave packet moves at a
different speed than the constituent waves.[20]

Main article: Wave packet

Localized wave packets, "bursts" of
wave action where each wave packet
travels as a unit, find application in
many fields of physics; the notion of a
wavelength also may be applied to
these wave packets.[21] The wave
packet has an envelope that describes
the overall amplitude of the wave;
within the envelope, the distance
between adjacent peaks or troughs is
sometimes called a local wavelength.
[22][23]
Using Fourier analysis, wave
packets can be analyzed into infinite
sums (or integrals) of sinusoidal waves
of different wavenumbers or
wavelengths.[24]
Louis de Broglie postulated that all
particles with a specific value
of momentum have a wavelength

where h is Planck's constant,

and p is the momentum of the
particle. This hypothesis was at the
basis of quantum mechanics.
Nowadays, this wavelength is
called the de Broglie wavelength.
For example, the electrons in
a CRT display have a De Broglie
wavelength of about 10−13 m. To
prevent the wave function for such
a particle being spread over all
space, De Broglie proposed using
wave packets to represent particles
that are localized in space.[25] The
spread of wavenumbers of
sinusoids that add up to such a
wave packet corresponds to an
uncertainty in the particle's
momentum, one aspect of
the Heisenberg uncertainty
principle.[24]
[edit]Interference and
diffraction
[edit]Double-slit
interference
Main article: Interference (wave
propagation)

Pattern of light intensity on a screen for

light passing through two slits. The labels
on the right refer to the difference of the
path lengths from the two slits, which are
idealized here as point sources.

When sinusoidal waveforms add,

they may reinforce each other
(constructive interference) or
cancel each other (destructive
interference) depending upon their
relative phase. This phenomenon
is used in the interferometer. A
simple example is an experiment
due to Young where light is passed
through two slits.[26]As shown in the
figure, light is passed through two
slits and shines on a screen. The
path of the light to a position on the
screen is different for the two slits,
and depends upon the angle θ the
path makes with the screen. If we
suppose the screen is far enough
from the slits (that is, s is large
compared to the slit separation d)
then the paths are nearly parallel,
and the path difference is
simply d sin θ. Accordingly the
condition for constructive
interference is:[27]

where m is an integer, and for

destructive interference is:

Thus, if the wavelength of

the light is known, the slit
separation can be
determined from the
interference pattern
or fringes, and vice versa.
It should be noted that the
effect of interference is
to redistribute the light, so
the energy contained in the
light is not altered, just
where it shows up.[28]
[edit]Single-slit
diffraction
Main
articles: Diffraction and Diffr
action formalism
The notion of path difference
and constructive or
destructive interference
used above for the double-
slit experiment applies as
well to the display of a single
slit of light intercepted on a
screen. The main result of
this interference is to spread
out the light from the narrow
slit into a broader image on
the screen. This distribution
of wave energy is
called diffraction.
Two types of diffraction are
distinguished, depending
upon the separation
between the source and the
screen: Fraunhofer
diffraction or far-field
diffraction at large
separations and Fresnel
diffraction or near-field
diffraction at close
separations.
In the analysis of the single
slit, the non-zero width of
the slit is taken into account,
 and each point in the
aperture is taken as the
source of one contribution to
the beam of light (Huygen's
wavelets). On the screen,
the light arriving from each
position within the slit has a
different path length, albeit
possibly a very small
difference. Consequently,
interference occurs.
In the Fraunhofer diffraction
pattern sufficiently far from a
single slit, within a small-
angle approximation, the
intensity spread S is related
to position x via a
squared sinc function:[29]

 with 
where L is the slit
width, R is the distance
of the pattern (on the
screen) from the slit, and
λ is the wavelength of
light used. The
function S has zeros
where u is a non-zero
integer, where are
at x values at a
separation proportion to
wavelength.
[edit]Diffraction-
limited resolution
Main articles: Angular
resolution and Diffraction
-limited system
Diffraction is the
fundamental limitation on
the resolving power of
optical instruments, such
as telescopes (including
radiotelescopes)
and microscopes.[30] For
a circular aperture, the
diffraction-limited image
spot is known as an Airy
disk; the distance x in the
single-slit diffraction
formula is replaced by
radial distance r and the
sine is replaced by 2J1,
where J1 is a first
order Bessel function.[31]
The
resolvable spatial size of
objects viewed through a
microscope is limited
according to
the Rayleigh criterion,
the radius to the first null
of the Airy disk, to a size
proportional to the
wavelength of the light
used, and depending on
the numerical aperture:[32]
where the numerical
aperture is defined
as for θ
being the half-angle
of the cone of rays
accepted by
the microscope
objective.
The angular size of
the central bright
portion (radius to first
null of the Airy disk)
of the image
diffracted by a
circular aperture, a
measure most
commonly used for
telescopes and
cameras, is:[33]

where λ is the
wavelength of the
waves that are
focused for
imaging, D the ent
rance
pupil diameter of
the imaging
system, in the
same units, and
the angular
resolution δ is in
radians.
As with other
diffraction
patterns, the
pattern scales in
proportion to
wavelength, so
shorter
wavelengths can
lead to higher
resolution.
[edit]Subwave
length
The
term subwaveleng
th is used to
describe an object
having one or
more dimensions
smaller than the
length of the wave
with which the
object interacts.
For example, the
term subwaveleng
th-diameter
optical
fibre means
an optical
fibre whose
diameter is less
than the
wavelength of
light propagating
through it.
A subwavelength
particle is a
particle smaller
than the
wavelength of
light with which it
interacts
(see Rayleigh
scattering).
Subwavelength ap
ertures are holes
smaller than the
wavelength of
light propagating
through them.
Such structures
have applications
in extraordinary
optical
transmission,
and zero-mode
waveguides,
among other
areas
of photonics.
Subwavelength m
ay also refer to a
phenomenon
involving
subwavelength
objects; for
 example, subwav
elength imaging.
Audio compression is a form of data compression designed to
reduce the transmission bandwidth requirement of digital audio
streams and the storage size of audio files. Audio
compressionalgorithms are implemented in computer
software as audio codecs. Generic data compression algorithms
perform poorly with audio data, seldom reducing data size much
below 87% from the original,[citation needed] and are not designed for
use in real time applications. Consequently, specifically optimized
audio lossless and lossy algorithms have been created. Lossy
algorithms provide greater compression rates and are used in
mainstream consumer audio devices.
In both lossy and lossless compression, information
redundancy is reduced, using methods such as coding, pattern
recognition and linear prediction to reduce the amount of
information used to represent the uncompressed data.
The trade-off between slightly reduced audio quality and
transmission or storage size is outweighed by the latter for most
practical audio applications in which users may not perceive the
loss in playback rendition quality. For example, one Compact
Disc holds approximately one hour of uncompressed high fidelity
music, less than 2 hours of music compressed losslessly, or 7
hours of music compressed in the MP3 format at medium bit
rates.

REFLECTION OF SOUND
After reading this section you will be able to do the following:
• Observe the experiment below and explain why the wave reacts
differently depending on what surface it hits.
 • Discuss how echoes are made.
The Multi-Material Room

Questions
1. What happens when a sound wave hits a concave shaped surface?
2. Is the sound reflected back to the source from a concave shaped
surface more or less than that reflected from a flat surface?
3. What happens when a sound wave hits the porous surface?
4. What happens when a sound wave hits an irregular surface?

Reflection
When sound reflects off a special curved surface called a parabola, it will
bounce out in a straight line no matter where it originally hits. Many
stages are designed as parabolas so the sound will go directly into the
audience, instead of bouncing around on stage. If the parabola is closed
off by another curved surface, it is called an ellipse. Sound will travel
from one focus to the other, no matter where it strikes the wall. A
whispering gallery is designed as an ellipse. If your friend stands at one
focus and you stand at the other, his whisper will be heard clearly by you.
No one in the rest of the room will hear anything.
Reflection is responsible for many interesting phenomena. Echoes are the
sound of your own voice reflecting back to your ears. The sound you hear
ringing in an auditorium after the band has stopped playing is caused by
reflection off the walls and other objects. A sound wave will continue to
bounce around a room, or reverberate, until it has lost all its energy. A
wave has some of its energy absorbed by the objects it hits. The rest is
lost as heat energy.
Sound Absorption
Everything, even air, absorbs sound. One example of air absorbing sound
waves happens during a thunderstorm. When you are very close to a
storm, you hear thunder as a sharp crack. When the storm is farther
away, you hear a low rumble instead. This is because air absorbs high
frequencies more easily than low. By the time the thunder has reached
you, all the high pitches are lost and only the low ones can be heard. The
best absorptive material is full of holes that sound waves can bounce
around in and lose energy. The energy lost as heat is too small to be felt,
though, it can be detected by scientific instruments.
How does sound reach every point in the room?
Since sound travels in a straight path from its source, how does it get
around corners? You already know that if you and your friend are standing
on either side of a wall and there is an open door nearby, you will be able
to hear what your friend says. Because you would not hear your friend if
the door was closed, sound is not traveling through the wall. Instead, it
must be going around the corner and out the door.
You hear your friend because of sound diffraction. Diffraction uses the
edges of a barrier as a secondary sound source that sends waves in a new
direction. These secondary waves overlap and interfere with each other
and the original waves, making the sound less clear. Working together,
diffraction and reflection can send sounds to every part of a room.
Acoustic absorption is that property of any material that
changes the acoustic energy of sound waves into another form,
often heat, which it to some extent retains, as opposed to that
sound energy that that material reflects or conducts. Acoustic
absorption is represented by the symbol A in calculations.
Absorption is not a single mechanism of sound attenuation:
propagation through aheterogeneous system is affected
by scattering as well.
The absorptivity of a given material is frequency-dependent and is
affected by size, shape, location and the mounting method used.
Porous insulative materials such as mineral wool, glass wool are
effective sound absorbers compared with good conductors such
as metals. Micro perforated plates, however, supply "hard"
absorptive surfaces.
Acoustic absorption is important in the analysis of sonar. The
primary substance in seawater that is responsible for absorption
is magnesium sulfate. The secondary substance is boric acid. The
most common sea salt, sodium chloride has virtually no effect on
sound absorption.
 A laser-acoustic method for testing
and classifying hard surface layers

D. Schneidera, , , B. Schultricha, H.-J. Scheibea, H. Ziegelea and

M. Griepentrogb
a
Fraunhofer-Institute for Material and Beam Technology,
Winterbergstrasse 28, D-01277 Dresden, Germany
b
Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, Unter den Eichen
87, D-12205 Berlin, Germany

Available online 21 September 1999.

Abstract
The laser-acoustic method is accepted to be an interesting method of
testing thin films. It is based on measuring the dispersion of surface
acoustic waves which are generated by short laser pulses. A reliable
test equipment was developed that allows a user-friendly operation.
The method is non-destructive, the test takes little time and special
sample preparation is not required. It is mainly applied to measure the
Young’s modulus of thin films with thickness down to less than 50 nm.
Recent studies showed these results to correlate with important
microstructural and mechanical properties of hard and superhard
films. The laser-acoustic technique was improved to test multilayer
films consisting of two components. The approach of an effective
medium of transversal symmetry is used to describe the elastic
behavior of multilayer films. It enables the elastic anisotropy of the
multilayer film to be evaluated. Applications are presented, performed
at multilayers of diamond-like carbon and aluminum deposited by
laser-arc on steel and silicon. The films consisted of four and twenty
single layers, respectively. The Young’s modulus of the diamond-like
carbon in the multilayer was determined with the laser-acoustic
technique. The results reveal the reproducibility of the deposition
technique and demonstrate the potential of the laser-acoustic
technique to test multilayer films. The laser-acoustic method is shown
to be sensitive to machining layers. The effect of grinding and
polishing steel surfaces was studied. Studies were performed to
compare the results of the laser-acoustic technique with those of
membrane deflection and micro-indentation. TiN, CrN and TiCN films
(thickness: 0.8–2.3 μm) were tested with laser-acoustics and micro-
indentation, polysilicon films (thickness: 0.46 μm) with laser-acoustics
and the membrane deflection technique.
Keywords: Young's modulus; Multilayer films; Diamond-like carbon;
Titanium nitrate; Surface acoustic waves; Micro-indentation

Optimization of zinc oxide thin film

for surface acoustic wave filters by
radio frequency sputtering
Y. Yoshino , T. Makinob, Y. Katayamab and T. Hataa
, a, b

a
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa
University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8667, Japan
 b
R&D division, Murata Mfg. Co., Ltd., Yasu, Shiga 520-2393, Japan

Available online 25 September 2000.

Abstract
Electrical characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO)/glass surface acoustic
wave (SAW) filters, the structure of which is ZnO thin film on a glass
substrate with aluminum inter digital transducers, are greatly
influenced by deposition parameters of a radio frequency sputtering
for making ZnO thin films. The deposition conditions for making the
ZnO thin film are also considered to obtain good piezoelectricity for
SAW devices. Oxygen concentration in the radio frequency sputtering
greatly affects the properties of ZnO thin films. The interface
microstructure of ZnO thin films is investigated by cross-section
transmission electron spectroscopy. The growth figures of ZnO on
glass and ZnO on Al are similar. The average crystal size of ZnO on
glass is larger than that of ZnO on Al.

Common Expressions: anechoic

Expressions Definition
Anechoic chamber A chamber having very little reverberation. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright ©
2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Anechoic chamber An anechoic chamber is a room that is isolated from external
sound or electromagnetic radiation sources, sometimes using
sound proofing, and prevents the reflection of wave phenomena
(reverberation). Anechoic chambers are widely used for
measuring the acoustic properties of acoustic instruments,
measuring the transfer functions of electro-acoustic devices,
testing microphones and performing psychoacoustics
experiments (such as measuring the quality of audio codecs or
measuring head-related transfer functions). (references)
Anechoic room An anechoic room simulates a free field — a representation of a
theoretical infinite space, in which there are no sound wave
 reflections (echoes). In rooms such as these, the only sounds
which exist are emitted directly from their source, and not
reflected from another part of the chamber.Anechoic rooms have
the characteristic of being muted, muffled, and silent. (references)
Anechoic tiles Anechoic tiles are rubber or sorbathane like tiles containing
thousands of tiny voids, applied to the outer hulls of military
ships and submarines.

Specialty Expressions: anechoic

Expressions Domain Definition
Anechoic Business A sound cavity in a horn or
chamber siren that minimizes echoes and
vibrations. (references)
Dead Room , 2000
architectural sound installation
360 x 360 x 240cm(h), variable

the death instinct is now only pure

silence in its transcendent distinction
from life, but it infuses all the more,
throughout all the immanent
combination it forms with this same
life.
G. Deleuze and F. Guattari Anti-
Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia
The exterior, is covered with sound
insulation cones baring the aesthetics of
a dark grey science fiction fortress.
These walls are precursors to the surreal
hypnotic atmosphere of the interior as
they themselves gently pulse in a bio-
mechanical rhythm.
One can often find a visitor walking
slowly around the cube, dragging a hand
against its tactile surface, lost in a
sensual revolution around the structure.
Somewhere in between the aesthetics of
a car interior and an insane asylum cell,
and bearing a glowing sterility
reminiscent of a coffin or hospital, the
installation's interior is a bright white
vinyl padded cell. For 3 minutes and 33
seconds at a time, eight large sub-
woofers pulse a rhythm of bass
frequencies that are too low for the
human ear to actually hear,
Stills from video interweaving amongst its references the
average radio play duration of the
typical pop song as well as Cagian
trajectories of 'silence'.
The space is silent, but the sound can
be seen as the woofers throb their play
cycles, felt as the sound waves move
through the body creating a subtle
- - -
intangible disturbance, and heard in the
> video clip < 'helium voice' disruption of the visitors'
voices. Visitors experience a subtly, yet
ever present re-perception of the body.
live room
Definition

noun

• in a recording studio, a large room in which a band can play their

instruments together and be recorded
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat
from one location to another. Refrigeration has many applications
including but not limited to; household refrigerators, industrial
freezers, cryogenics, air conditioning, and heat pumps. In order to
satisfy the Second Law of Thermodynamics, some form of work
must be performed to accomplish this. The work is traditionally
done by mechanical work but can also be done
by magnetism, laser or other means.

Methods of refrigeration
Methods of refrigeration can be classified as non-
cyclic, cyclic and thermoelectric.
[edit]Non-cyclic refrigeration
In non-cyclic refrigeration, cooling is accomplished by
melting ice or by subliming dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). These
methods are used for small-scale refrigeration such as in
laboratories and workshops, or in portable coolers.
Ice owes its effectiveness as a cooling agent to its
constant melting point of 0 °C (32 °F). In order to melt, ice must
absorb 333.55 kJ/kg (approx. 144 Btu/lb) of heat. Foodstuffs
maintained at this temperature or slightly above have an
increased storage life.
Solid carbon dioxide has no liquid phase at normal atmospheric
pressure, so sublimes directly from the solid to vapor phase at a
temperature of -78.5 °C (-109.3 °F), and is therefore effective for
maintaining products at low temperatures during the period of
sublimation. Systems such as this where the refrigerant
evaporates and is vented into the atmosphere are known as "total
loss refrigeration".
[edit]Cyclic refrigeration
Main article: Heat pump and refrigeration cycle
This consists of a refrigeration cycle, where heat is removed from
a low-temperature space or source and rejected to a high-
temperature sink with the help of external work, and its inverse,
thethermodynamic power cycle. In the power cycle, heat is
supplied from a high-temperature source to the engine, part of the
heat being used to produce work and the rest being rejected to a
low-temperature sink. This satisfies the second law of
thermodynamics.
A refrigeration cycle describes the changes that take place in the
refrigerant as it alternately absorbs and rejects heat as it
circulates through a refrigerator. It is also applied to HVACR work,
when describing the "process" of refrigerant flow through an
HVACR unit, whether it is a packaged or split system.
Heat naturally flows from hot to cold. Work is applied to cool a
living space or storage volume by pumping heat from a lower
temperature heat source into a higher temperature heat
sink. Insulation is used to reduce the work and energy required to
achieve and maintain a lower temperature in the cooled space.
The operating principle of the refrigeration cycle was described
mathematically by Sadi Carnot in 1824 as a heat engine.
The most common types of refrigeration systems use the reverse-
Rankine vapor-compression refrigeration cycle
although absorption heat pumps are used in a minority of
applications.
Cyclic refrigeration can be classified as:
1. Vapor cycle, and
2. Gas cycle
Vapor cycle refrigeration can further be classified as:
1. Vapor-compression refrigeration

2. Vapor-absorption refrigeration

[edit]Vapor-compression cycle
(See Heat pump and refrigeration cycle and Vapor-
compression refrigeration for more details)
The vapor-compression cycle is used in most household
refrigerators as well as in many large commercial and
industrial refrigeration systems. Figure 1 provides a schematic
diagram of the components of a typical vapor-compression
refrigeration system.

Figure 1: Vapor compression refrigeration

The thermodynamics of the cycle can be analyzed on a

diagram[11][12] as shown in Figure 2. In this cycle, a circulating
refrigerant such asFreon enters the compressor as a vapor.
From point 1 to point 2, the vapor is compressed at
constant entropy and exits the compressor as a vapor at a
higher temperature, but still below the vapor pressure at that
temperature. From point 2 to point 3 and on to point 4, the
vapor travels through the condenser which cools the vapor
until it starts condensing, and then condenses the vapor into a
liquid by removing additional heat at constant pressure and
temperature. Between points 4 and 5, the liquid refrigerant
goes through the expansion valve (also called a throttle valve)
where its pressure abruptly decreases, causing flash
evaporation and auto-refrigeration of, typically, less than half
of the liquid.

Figure 2: Temperature–Entropy diagram

That results in a mixture of liquid and vapor at a lower

temperature and pressure as shown at point 5. The cold liquid-
vapor mixture then travels through the evaporator coil or tubes
and is completely vaporized by cooling the warm air (from the
space being refrigerated) being blown by a fan across the
evaporator coil or tubes. The resulting refrigerant vapor
returns to the compressor inlet at point 1 to complete the
thermodynamic cycle.
The above discussion is based on the ideal vapor-
compression refrigeration cycle, and does not take into
account real-world effects like frictional pressure drop in the
system, slight thermodynamic irreversibility during the
compression of the refrigerant vapor, or non-ideal
gas behavior (if any).
More information about the design and performance of vapor-
compression refrigeration systems is available in the
classic Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook.[13]
[edit]Vapor absorption cycle
Main article: Absorption refrigerator
In the early years of the twentieth century, the vapor
absorption cycle using water-ammonia systems was popular
and widely used. After the development of the vapor
compression cycle, the vapor absorption cycle lost much of its
importance because of its low coefficient of
performance (about one fifth of that of the vapor compression
cycle). Today, the vapor absorption cycle is used mainly
where fuel for heating is available but electricity is not, such as
in recreational vehicles that carry LP gas. It is also used in
industrial environments where plentiful waste heat overcomes
its inefficiency.
The absorption cycle is similar to the compression cycle,
except for the method of raising the pressure of the refrigerant
vapor. In the absorption system, the compressor is replaced
by an absorber which dissolves the refrigerant in a suitable
liquid, a liquid pump which raises the pressure and a
generator which, on heat addition, drives off the refrigerant
vapor from the high-pressure liquid. Some work is required by
the liquid pump but, for a given quantity of refrigerant, it is
much smaller than needed by the compressor in the vapor
compression cycle. In an absorption refrigerator, a suitable
combination of refrigerant and absorbent is used. The most
 common combinations are ammonia (refrigerant) and water
(absorbent), and water (refrigerant) and lithium
bromide[absorbent].
[edit]Gas cycle
When the working fluid is a gas that is compressed and
expanded but doesn't change phase, the refrigeration cycle is
called agas cycle. Air is most often this working fluid. As there
is no condensation and evaporation intended in a gas cycle,
components corresponding to the condenser and evaporator
in a vapor compression cycle are the hot and cold gas-to-
gas heat exchangers in gas cycles.
The gas cycle is less efficient than the vapor compression
cycle because the gas cycle works on the reverse Brayton
cycle instead of the reverse Rankine cycle. As such the
working fluid does not receive and reject heat at constant
temperature. In the gas cycle, the refrigeration effect is equal
to the product of the specific heat of the gas and the rise in
temperature of the gas in the low temperature side. Therefore,
for the same cooling load, a gas refrigeration cycle will require
a large mass flow rate and would be bulky.
Because of their lower efficiency and larger bulk, air
cycle coolers are not often used nowadays in terrestrial
cooling devices. The air cycle machine is very common,
however, on gas turbine-powered jetaircraft because
compressed air is readily available from the engines'
compressor sections. These jet aircraft's cooling and
ventilation units also serve the purpose of pressurizing the
aircraft.
Echo

In music
In music performance and recording, electric echo effects have
been used since the 1950s. The Echoplex is a tape delay effect,
first made in 1959 that recreates the sound of an acoustic echo.
Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the
effect in the 1960s and was used by most of the notable guitar
players of the era; original Echoplexes are highly sought
after.While Echoplexes were used heavily by guitar players (and
the occasional bass player, such as Chuck Rainey, or trumpeter,
such as Don Ellis), many recording studios also used the
Echoplex.Beginning in the 1970s, Market built the solid-
state Echoplex for Maestro. In the 2000s, most echo effects
units use electronic or digital circuitry to recreate the echo effect.
Acoustic phenomenon
If so many reflections arrive at a listener that they are unable to
distinguish between them, the proper term is reverberation. An
echo can be explained as a wave that has been reflected by a
discontinuity in the propagation medium, and returns with
sufficient magnitude and delay to be perceived. Echoes are
reflected off walls or hard surfaces like mountains and privacy
fences.

This illustration depicts the principle of sediment echo sounding, which uses a
narrow beam of high energy and low frequency

When dealing with audible frequencies, the human ear cannot

distinguish an echo from the original sound if the delay is less
than 1/10 of a second. Thus, since the velocity of sound is
approximately 343 m/s at a normal room temperature of about
20°C, the reflecting object must be more than 17.15 m from the
sound source at this temperature for an echo to be heard by a
person at the source.
Sound travels approximately 343 meters/s (1100 ft/s). If a sound
produces an echo in 2 seconds, the object producing the echo
would be half that distance away (the sound takes half the time to
get to the object and half the time to return). The distance for an
object with a 2-second echo return would be 1 sec X 343 meters/s
or 343 meters (1100 ft). In most situations with human hearing,
echoes are about one-half second or about half this distance,
since sounds grow fainter with distance. In nature, canyon walls
or rock cliffs facing water are the most common natural settings
for hearing echoes.The strength of an echo is frequently
measured in dB sound pressure level SPL relative to the directly
transmitted wave. Echoes may be desirable (as in sonar) or
undesirable (as in telephone systems).

Acoustic Sound Diffusion

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Albro

Sound diffusion reduces the problems with first

reflections and because the diffusive materials have
an irregular surface, flutter echo is eliminated.
However, reverberation will not be eliminated, but
the scattering or breaking up of the reflections tends
to result in a smoother reverberation at a lower
level.Sound diffusion materials can be pricey, and
the devices are difficult to build, however, a regular
bookcase loaded with books of different sizes will
break up the sound wave reflections and redirect the
waves in various ways. Sound Diffusion controls
reflections by breaking up an audio wave into
smaller waves that are scattered in many different
directions. This method also controls echo and
reverb at lower frequencies.

Another method for sound diffusion is the use of

quadratic diffusers. The idea is to arrange wells, or
blocks and strips of wood, or other materials in an
array, each at a different depth. The more wells,
blocks and strips of wood installed in a given area,
the better the high-frequency sound diffusion; the
deeper the wells or variations in blocks or strips, the
better the low-frequency performance. Auralex
SpaceArray diffusers (retailing at about $798.00)
combine hemispherical acoustical diffusion with a
top quality wood finish. Besides the beauty of this
paulownia wood, the craftsmanship is exceptional
and the musical qualities provided by this diffuser
can give a room sound quality that isn’t quantifiable.
Strong yet lightweight, the beautiful 24″x24″ solid
wood panels are easy to install and can be used in a
variety of placement options.
For audio professionals who seek to provide a small
room acoustical environment supportive of a wide
range of performance and recording styles,
the Aurelex pArtScience™ SpaceCoupler (retails at
about $500.00 ea) is an acoustical treatment that
creates a natural “large sound” within a small room
area. Unlike current alternatives, which involve
custom design and remodeling, the SpaceCoupler
works within the current room footprint for a
fraction of the cost.
New applications for the SpaceCoupler are being
discovered daily. Coupled together, like the Aurelex
SCREEN6 Kit (retails at about $1200), this
configuration of Space Couplers increase absorber
efficiency and its high-end appearance all make the
Aurelex Screen6 Kit an exciting product for sound
diffusion.
Other solutions for sound diffusion are engineered
into the design during the construction phase of a
studio; nonrectangular rooms, wall splaying, and
curved or angled ceilings. The term nonrectangular
rooms refers to the process of making sure you do
not have parallel walls. Wall splaying refers to the
process of bumping out a parallel wall in one
direction, either from the top or bottom, or left to
right. Ceiling treatments, such as curving or angling,
need to be considered during the design and
engineering process as they require special framing
and finishes.

And then there are other practical commercial

elements available for the audio, recording and
architectural industries. These diffusers are designed
using mathematical equations to solve the reflection
problems. These types of sound reflection solutions
can be purchased from companies that specialize in
diffusion products.

Sound Cooling
Acousticians Use Sound Waves to Refrigerate
Food
April 1, 2004

To chill Ben & Jerry's ice cream, a new freezer employs

sound waves and harmless gases in place of the moving
parts and hazardous chemicals in traditional refrigerators.
The "thermoacoustic freezer" is very efficient, cheap and
environmentally friendly.
How can sound waves chill objects?
Conventional refrigerators chill items by
compressing and expanding chemicals
called refrigerants. This transfers heat
from inside the fridge to the outside, cooling the inside.
Sound waves can do the same job: very powerful sound
waves can also conduct heat. In an acoustic refrigerator,
helium is compressed in a small steel cylinder to a pressure
10 times that of the Earth's atmosphere. Then a speaker
blasts a long unchanging note, sending sound waves
vibrating through the helium-filled cylinder.
The pressure changes caused by the sound waves bouncing
around in the sealed space alternately heat and cool the
enclosed gas.
The sound waves force the helium through a fine-meshed
stainless steel screen, and heat is transferred from the gas to
the steel. As the sound passes through the screens, it causes
the sound wave to drop in pressure. This causes the helium
to expand and cool even more before it reaches a reservoir
of ethyl alcohol.
The now-cold helium draws heat from the alcohol. The cold
alcohol is then pumped through the walls of the refrigerator
to cool the inside, and pumped back to the reservoir, where
the helium chills it again.
Your ear works much like the acoustic refrigerator. Sound
waves inside your ear vibrate the eardrum. As the eardrum
swings back and forth, a fluid inside picks up those waves,
just like the refrigerator's helium cylinder. Instead of turning
the energy from the waves into heat, as the refrigerator
does, the waves' energy vibrates tiny hairs that are tuned to
the different pitches of the sound. The sound you hear
consists of different frequencies or wavelengths, which
determine their pitch.
Loud sounds can cause pain at 120 dB -- what you would
hear near the stage at a heavy metal concern. At 165 dB,
your hair would catch fire from the heat caused by the
friction from the sound vibrations. Acoustic refrigerators have
sound levels of 173-196 dB -- similar to the sound of a space
shuttle launch at ground zero -- safely contained in a
pressurized tube. Even if the tube shattered, the sound
would instantly spread out through the atmosphere and
return to harmless levels.
A1 temative Fluorocarbons Environmental 'Acceptability Study
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology Workshop
Breckenridge Hilton, Breckenridge, CO
June 23-25,1993
THERMOACOUSTIC REFRIGERATION
Steven L. Garrett, Thomas J. Hofler, and David K. Perkins
Physics Department and Space Systems Academic Group
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943
1 .O TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION
I . I Historical Perspective. The thermoacoustic heat pumping
cycle is the youngest technology
that will be presented at this workshop. Although the reverse
process - the generation of sound by
an imposed temperature gradient - had been observed for several
centuries by glassblowersl~l and
for decades by cryogenic researchersP1; the recognition that
useful amounts of heat could be
pumped against a substantial temperature gradient with a
coefficient-of-performance which is a
significant fraction of the Camot limit was only made ten years
agoU1, with the first demonstration,
including efficiency measurements, being made in 1986141.
This discovery was made even more significant by the
recognition that the thermoacoustic
heat pumping cycle was intrinsically irreversible. Traditional heat
engine cycles, such as the
Camot Cycle typically studied in elementary thermodynamics
courses, assume that the individual
steps in the cycle are reversible. In thermoacoustic engines, the
irreversibility due to the imperfect
(diffusive) thermal contact between the acoustically oscillating
working fluid and a stationary
second thermodynamic medium (the "stack") provides the
required phasing. This "natural
phasing"[41 has produced heat engines which require no
moving parts other than the self-
maintained oscillations of the working fluid.
During this relatively short period, several refrigerators and
prime movers have been
fabricated and tested at Los Alamos National Laboratories[3-5]
and two refrigerators for spacecraft
applications were built at the Naval Postgraduate School. The
Space ThermoAcoustic
RefrigeratorL'I was flown on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-
42) in January, 1992, and the
ThermoAcoustic Life Sciences Refrigerator (TALSR)[81 is now
being tested and should be
characterized completely by October, 1993.
- 1 - S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration AFEAS
Workshop
TALSR was designed to pump 700 Btuhr in the refrigerator mode
(+4"C) and 400 Btu/hr in
the freezer mode (-2273. This makes it the first thermoacoustic
refrigerator which would be
capable of operation as a conventional domestic food
refngeratodfreezer. At the present time, there
are several preliminary designs which should be capable of one-
half ton to three tons of air
conditioning capacity, but no prototypes are currently under
construction.
1.2 A Simple Invisid Model of the Thermoacoustic Heat
Pumping Process. Although a
complete and detailed analysis of the thermoacoustic heat
pumping process is well beyond the
scope of this paper, the following simple, invisid, Lagrangian
representation of the cycle contains
the essence of the process. A complete analysis[6] would
necessarily include the gas viscosity,
finite wavelength effects, longitudinal thermal conduction along
the stationary second
thermodynamic medium and through the gas, and the ratio of
the gas and solid dynamic heat
capacities.
A schematic diagram of a simple, one-quarter wavelength
thermoacoustic refrigerator is
shown in Figure 1.
*Rigid.:
Termination 1
Loudspeaker
Tube
I
, I
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a one-quarter wavelength
thermoacoustic refrigerator.
II
The thermal penetration depth, 6,, represents the distance over
which heat will diffuse during
a time which is on the order of an acoustic period, T = l/f, where f
is the acoustic frequency. It is
defined[9] in terms of the thermal conductivity of the gas, K, the
gas density, p, and its isobaric
specific heat (per unit mass), cp.
This length scale is crucial to understanding the performance of
the thermoacoustic cycle since the
diffusive heat transport between the gas and the "stack" is only
significant within this region. It is
for that reason that the stack and the spacing between its plates
are central to the thermoacoustic
cycle.
-2- S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration A FEAS
Works hop
For this analysis we will focus our attention on a small portion
of a single plate surface
from the solid stack material is small enough that a substantial
amount of thermal conduction can
take place in an amount of time which is on the order of the
acoustic period. In the lower half of
Figure 1, a small portion of the stack has been magnified and a
parcel of gas undergoing an
acoustic oscillation is shown. The four steps in the cycle are
represented by the four boxes which
are shown as moving in a rectangular path for clarity. In reality
they simply oscillate back and
forth. As the fluid oscillates back and forth along the plate, it
undergoes changes in temperature
due to the adiabatic compression and expansion resulting from
the pressure variations which
accompany the standing sound wave. The compressions and
expansions of the gas which
constitute the sound wave are adiabatic if they occur far from the
surface of the plate. The relation
between the change in gas pressure due to the sound wave, p1,
relative to the mean (ambient)
pressure, pm, and the adiabatic temperature change of the gas,
TI, due to the acoustic pressure
change, relative to the mean absolute (Kelvin) temperature, T,, is
given below in equation (2).
8
within the "stack" and the adjacent gas which is undergoing
acoustic oscillations. The distance
Although the oscillations in an acoustic heat pump are sinusoidal
functions of time, Figure 1
depicts the motion as articulated (a square wave) in order to
simplify the explanation. The plate is
assumed to have a mean temperature, T,, and a temperature
gradient,VT, referenced to the mean
position, x = 0. The temperature of the plate at the left-most
position of the gas parcels excursion
is therefore T, - xlVT, and at the right-most excursion is T, +
xlVT.
In the first step of this four-step cycle, the fluid is transported
along the plate by a distance
2x1 and is heated by adiabatic compression from a temperature
of T, - x1VT to Tm - xlVT -+ 2Tl.
The adiabatic gas law provides the relationship between the
change in gas pressure, p1, and the
associated change in temperature, T,, as described in equation
(2). Because we are considering a
heat pump, work, in the form of sound, was done on the gas
parcel hence it is now a temperature
which is higher than that of the plate at its present location (ix.,
IxlVTI < ITlI).
In the second step, the warmer gas parcel transfers an amount of
heat, dQhob to the plate by
thermal conduction at constant pressure and its temperature
decreases to that of the plate, Tm +
xlVT. In the third step, the fluid is transported back along the
plate to position -XI and is cooled
by adiabatic expansion to a temperature T, + xlVT - 2T1. This
temperature is lower than the
original temperature at location -XI, so in the fourth step the gas
parcel adsorbs an amount of heat,
dQcold, from the plate thereby raising its temperature back to its
original value, Tm - xlVT.
- 3 - S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration AFEAS
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The net effect of this process is that the system has completed a
cycle which has returned it to
its original state and an amount of heat, dGold, has been
transported PD a temDerature mdient by
work done in the form of sound. It should be stressed again that
no mechanical devices were used
to provide the proper phasing between the mechanical motion
and the thermal effects.
If we now consider the full length of the stack as shown in the
upper portion of Figure 1, the
overall heat pumping process is analogous to a "bucket brigade"
in which each set of gas parcels
picks up heat from its neighbor to the left at a lower temperature
and hands off the heat to its
neighbor to the right at a higher temperature. Heat exchangers
are placed at the ends of the stack to
absorb the useful heat load at the left-hand (cold) end of the stack
and exhaust the heat plus work
(enthalpy) at the right-hand (hot) end of the stack. The fact that
the gas parcels actudy move a
distance which has typically been on the order of several
millimeters means that intimate physical
contact between the heat exchangers and the stack is not crucial.
2.0 APPLICATIONS
The applications of thermoacoustic engines fall into two
categories which depend upon
whether the refrigerator is powered by electricity or by heat.
Although the heat driven
thermoacoustic refrigerators and cryocoolers are attractive for
applications where there is abundant
heat or waste heat, at the present time, only two
thermoacoustically driven refrigerators have been
demonstrated. The first was a "beer cooler"[5JOl and the second
was a thermoacoustically driven
orifice-pulse-tube cryocooler designated the "Coolahoop"[lll. A
more compact commercial
version of the Coolahoop is now under development for cooling of
high speed electronics. Several
other heat-driven thermoacoustic refrigerators are currently in the
design stages for the above
applications including a refrigerator for storage of medical
supplies and vaccines in Bangladesh, a
solar driven refrigerated cargo container for transportation of
tropical fruits, and a natural gas
liquefaction plant.
Work on electrically powered thermoacoustic refrigeration has,
until last year, been
concentrated on laboratory experiments and spacecraft
applications. At the present time, Ford
Motor Company is developing thermoacoustic refrigerators for
proprietary applications. NPS is
currently developing two refrigerators. One is a third-generation,
single-stage thermoacoustic
cryocooler (TAR-3) which is designed to reach high-T,
superconductor transition temperatures.
The other is TALSR, which is capable of producing cooling
comparable to commercial domestic
refrigerator/freezers. TALSR was also designed for use on-board
the Space ShuttleI81. The first
commercial application of a TALSR-like design, which will use a
less expensive driver, will be
targeted to a %iche" market which we are unwilling to disclose at
this time.
Due to the simplicity of its operation and the use of only one
moving part, thermoacoustic
refrigeration is also be suitable for cooling the latest generation of
computer chips which can run at
twice their room temperature design speeds when their
temperature is reduced to -50°C.
-4- S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration AFEAS
Workshop
i
/
Figure 2. Cross-sectional diagram of the half-wavelength
resonant TALSR. Two separate
drivers are used for redundancy in space applications. A
commercial unit would use a single
double-acting drive. The two stacks and four fluid-filled heat
exchangers are configured so that the
total temperature span is greater than that of either individual
stack.
3.0 BENEFITS
3.1 Inert working fluid. Helium, being an inert gas, cannot
participate in chemical re actions
and hence no toxicity, flammability, or negative environmental
effects (ODP=GWP=O).
3.2 No sliding seals or lubrication. Due to the high frequency
operation, high powers can be
achieved with small displacements so no sliding seals or gas
bearings are required. This also
means that no "tight tolerance" machined parts are required
thereby reducing manufacturing costs.
3.3 Veryfew simple components. Electrically driven systems
require only one moving part and
thermally driven systems have no moving parts. The "stack" can
be fabricated from cheap plastics.
3.4 Large range of working temperatures. Depending upon the
position and length of the stack
in the acoustic standing wave field, one can trade off the
temperature span and the heat pumping
power. Different working fluids are therefore not required for
different temperature ranges.
3.5 Intrinsically suited to proportional control. Just as one is able
to control the volume of a
stereo system, a electrically driven thermoacoustic refrigerator's
cooling power is continuously
variable. This allows improved overall efficiency by doing rapid
cool-down at a lower COP and
then maintaining heat leak losses at higher COP. This "load
matching" can also reduce heat
exchanger inefficiencies by minimizing temperature differences
within the fluids and exchangers.
3.6 Immaturity. Thennoacoustics is the youngest of the heat
engine cycles. It is more likely
that important breakthroughs which substantially improve
performance and manufacturability will
still occur here rather than the older technologies which have
already "skimmed the cream".
- 5 - S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration A F EAS
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4.0 TECHNICAL ISSUES
4.1 immaturity. Because thermoacoustics is the youngest of
existing heat engine cycles, it lacks
the infrastructure (suppliers, sales and service base, educational
programs, etc.) which can enhance
marketability. In addition, since there are presently no
commercial products on the market,
thermoacoustics does not have a "cash flow" which can be
"tapped" to make either incremental
component improvements or to finance general research and
development efforts.
4.2 Eficiency. Although computer models[121 of TALSR predict
that it will have a Coefficient-
of-Performance Relative to Carnot (COPR) of 42% (exclusive
of motor inefficiencies and
secondary heat exchange fluid pumps), TALSR has not yet
been tested. The previous
thermoacoustic cryocooler designs have been optimized for
temperature span rather than COP.
Their best measured performance has given a COPR I20%,
again exclusive of electroacoustic
efficiency.
4.3 Power density. The simple boundary layer models of
thermoacoustic engine
performance[d121 may not apply as acoustical amplitudes are
increased. If acoustic mach numbers
are restricted to Ma&%, then the realizable power density of
conventional thermoacoustic stack
geometries may be restricted to 10 Tons (35 kW) per square
meter of stack cross-sectional area at
working fluid pressures below 20 atm. Higher power research
refrigerators and numerical
hydrodynamic computer simulations would be very useful to
determine what would ultimately limit
the power density.
4.4 Electroacoustic conversion. Although electrical to acoustical
conversion efficiencies on the
order of 90% are, in principle, realizable at reasonable cost,
present thermoacoustic drivers have
had electroacoustic efficiencies under 50%. This should not be a
problem since efficiencies for
similar linear motor technology in Stirling applications as high as
93% have been measured[W.
4.5 Secondary heat transfer. All thermoacoustic engines
produced thus far have used either
conduction for small heat loads (<IO Watts) or electrically pumped
heat exchange fluids for large
heat loads (>IO0 Watts). Unlike the vapor compression (Rankine)
cycles, the working fluid in a
thermoacoustic refrigerator/chiller is not circulated outside the
engine. In order to obtain maximum
overall efficiency (Le., net COP), it is therefore necessary to
simultaneously optimize primary and
secondary heat exchanger geometry, transfer fluid
thermophysical parameters, transfer fluid flow
rates, and electrical pump or heat pipe performance, all subject to
economic constraints, in order to
achieve the best performance at the lowest cost.
4.6 The "talent bottleneck." Because thermoacoustics is a new
science and requires expertise in
a diverse number of non-traditional disciplines within the
refrigeration and HVAC communities
(acoustics, transduction, gas mixture thermophysics, PID, PLL
and AGC control, etc.), there are
very few experimentalists who are interested or capable of
research in this field. This severely
limits the number of potentially promising applications which can
be pursued simultaneously.
-6- S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration AFEAS
Workshop
5.0 ECONOMICS
All thermoacoustic engines which have been produced to date
have been research prototypes.
The costs have been typically 1-2 M$, which accounts primarily
for scientific and technical staff
salaries. No systematic cost projections or comparisons to
existing system costs have been
attempted. Limited commercialization attempts which address
niche applications are expected over
the next three years and should begin to provide some economic
benchmarks which would lead to
reliable cost estimates.
6.0 TECHNOLOGY OUTLOOK
Those of us who work with thermoacoustics feel the outlook is
bright for the reasons
enumerated in Section 3.0 of this paper. We recognize that our
strongly positive outlook is both
prejudicial and self-serving. On the other hand, the failure of
technology outlook projections made
by those who are not knowledgeable in thermoacoustics can be
equally prejudicial, self-serving,
and more importantly, wrong. This may be best illustrated by
the recent analysis of "Energy
Efficient Alternatives to Chlorofluorocarbons" prepared for the
Department of Energy by A. D.
Little, Inc. In that study[141, several domestic refrigeration
technologies were ranked from 1
(Lowest) to 5 (Highest) based on the probability of success and
assigned a 1-5 priority for R&D
support.
In that A. D. Little analysis, Stirling Cycle was evaluated in the
areas of analytical tools,
linear drive systems, compact heat exchangers, reliability, and
market potential of prototype
designs. The sum of the scores for "probability of success" and
"R&D priority" averaged 8.4 f
0.6 out of a possible maximum sum of 10. The sum for
thermoacoustics (improperly labeled
Thermal Acoustic) was 2, with the minimum sum being 2! Of the
other fourteen technologies
evaluated in that table, none of the others had a sum lower than
five.
The ultimate failure of that A. D. Little analysis can best be
established by the "head-to-head"
comparison that was sponsored by the Life Sciences Division of
NASA. In an attempt to replace
the existing Space Shuttle Life Sciences refrigerator/freezer,
NASA awarded three contracts to
companies with potential replacement technologies. One went
to A. D. Little for a scroll
pumphapor compression technology. The other two contracts
went to Sunpower, Inc., for a
linear motor Stirling technology and to NPS for
thermoacoustics. As of the date of this
conference, less than a year after the award of the NPS contract,
the A. D. Little team has dropped
out and the Stirling system has been delivered with only one-third
of the originally specified heat
pumping capability. At this point, it appears that only the
thermoacoustic technology will meet the
original contract specifications.
When attempting to predict the future utility of a new discovery or
emerging technology, it is
always useful to recall the observations made by Prof. Faraday,
D.C.L., F.R.S., in 1817[151:
- 7 - S. L. Garrett, et. al. ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration AFEAS
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"Before leaving this subject, I will point out the history of this
substance, as an
answer to those who are in the habit of saying to every new
fact, 'What is the use?'
Dr. Franklin says to such, 'What is the use of an infant?'
The answer of the
experimentalist is, 'Endeavour to make it useful."'
We know that reports that this infant was stillborn are wrong! We
feel that thermoacoustics
is still too immature to make definitive technological projections.
The growth curves for both
efficiency and heat pumping capacity are still very steep and the
number of industrial and academic
researchers, though still small, is growing at an increasing
rate. (Thermoacoustic cooling
demonstration units are now even starting to appear in high
school science fairs!) At this point, the
only outlook we can guarantee is that thermoacoustic systems will
continue to prove that the
initially pessimistic outlook of those unfamiliar with this
technology were wrong.
Absorption
One solution to reflections is to apply absorption to the wall, which
turns acoustic energy into heat - this is a kind of damping. This
absorption can be a specialist product such as those made of
mineral wool, open cell foam, or recycled fibrous material like
paper-waste, but absorption can also be provided by more
commonplace object such as curtains, sofas or carpets. It can be
a tricky balance for an acoustic designer - too much absorption,
and the room will sound 'dead'. The sound quality would be like
listening outdoors, where only the direct sound from a source is
heard (assuming 'soft' ground and an absence of nearby
buildings). While a few people favour such acoustic 'non-
environments' for mixing music, for most people these are rather
oppressive spaces too far removed from normal listening
conditions.
So - what other tricks can the acoustic desgner use?

Diffusion
Acoustic Diffusers are used to disperse reflections spatially - to
'spread out' reflected sound energy over a wide range of angles -
as shown in the diagram above. Some diffusion can be obtained
by carefully placing book cases and other furniture in a room, but
often specialist (=expensive!) diffusing surfaces can achieve
greater diffusion in a more controlled manner. By using sound
diffusers, first order reflections are dispersed to be heard later by
the listener, and by removing and delaying early reflections,
diffusion and absorption can make a small music studio sound
like a larger room. Consequently, design is all about locating the
reflection points for first order reflections, and applying
appropriate treatment there.
Diffusion, in acoustics and architectural engineering, is the
efficacy by which sound energy is spread evenly in a given
environment. A perfectly diffusive sound space is one that has
certain keyacoustic properties which are the same anywhere in
the space. A non-diffuse sound space would have considerably
different reverberation time as the listener moved around the
room. Virtually all spaces are non-diffuse. Spaces which are
highly non-diffuse are ones where the acoustic absorption is
unevenly distributed around the space, or where two different
acoustic volumes are coupled. The diffusiveness of a sound field
can be measured by taking reverberation time measurements at a
large number of points in the room, then taking the standard
deviation on these decay times. Alternately, the spatial distribution
of the sound can be examined. Small sound spaces generally
have very poor diffusion characteristics at low frequencies due to
room modes.

Refraction of Sound
Refraction is the bending of waves when they enter a medium where their speed is
different. Refraction is not so important a phenomenon with sound as it is with light
where it is responsible for image formation by lenses, the eye, cameras, etc.
Butbending of sound waves does occur and is an interesting phenomena in sound
 Diffraction of Sound
Diffraction: the bending of waves around small* obstacles and
the spreading out of waves beyond small* openings.
* small compared to the wavelength
Sound Focusing and Sound Distribution
Diagrams of an auditorium with sound focusing and sound distribution