Physics
Frequency of Sound Waves
Quick fact
The human ear can typically hear sounds between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, but frequency alone doesn't define the quality of a sound—it’s also tied to pitch and tone.
Why this is interesting
Have you ever noticed that a dog whistle is inaudible to humans? It's because it produces sound waves with frequencies too high for our ears to detect.
Read the full explanation
Understanding Frequency of Sound Waves
Sound waves are vibrations that travel through air or other mediums. The frequency of these waves refers to how many times they vibrate in one second. This determines whether a sound is high-pitched (like a bird's chirp) or low-pitched (like a drumbeat).
A deeper explanation
Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz), which represents the number of cycles per second. Higher frequency means more vibrations per second, resulting in higher pitch. This principle is fundamental to how we experience music and speech, as well as how technologies like ultrasound and sonar work.