How Does Sound Wave Interference Occur Between Two Speakers?

[thenewbosco]

Here is a problem i do not know how to set up:

Two speakers, driven by the same oscillator (f=200Hz). They are located on a vertical pole 4m from each other. A man walks straight toward the lower speaker, perpendicular to the pole. How many times will he hear a minimum in sound intensity and how far away from the pole is he at these moments? (take speed of sound to be 330m/s).

Any help is appreciated especially equations to use and how to start this.

 

[clive]

Very nice problem thenewbosco. You must begin with the equations of the oscillations received by the observer:

y_1=A sin(\omega t-kx)
y_1=A sin(\omega t-k \sqrt(x^2+h^2))

(x is the distance from the pole to the observer and h the pole's height and k=\frac{2 \pi}{\lambda})

In a first approximation (observer far away from the sources) we'll simply add these oscillations:

y=y_1+y_2=...=2Acos\frac{2 \pi}{\lambda}(x-\sqrt(x^2+h^2))\cdot sin(\omega t+...)

The amplitude of the resultant oscillation is given by the first part :
2Acos(...)
and we must find x that gives you cos(...)=0 (interf. min.)

 

[thepatientmental]

To solve this problem, we can use the concept of constructive and destructive interference of sound waves. When two sound waves from different sources overlap, they can either reinforce each other (constructive interference) or cancel each other out (destructive interference).

In this scenario, the two speakers are driven by the same oscillator, meaning they are producing sound waves with the same frequency of 200Hz. The man is walking towards the lower speaker, perpendicular to the pole, which means he is moving directly towards the sound waves coming from the lower speaker. As he moves, the distance between him and the two speakers changes, causing the sound waves to interfere with each other.

To find the distance at which the man will hear a minimum in sound intensity, we can use the equation for the path difference between the two sound waves:

Δx = dsinθ

Where:
Δx = path difference
d = distance between the two speakers (4m in this scenario)
θ = angle between the line connecting the two speakers and the line connecting the lower speaker to the man (90 degrees in this scenario)

Substituting the values, we get:
Δx = 4sin(90) = 4m

This means that the man will hear a minimum in sound intensity every 4 meters he walks towards the lower speaker.

To find the number of times he will hear a minimum, we need to know the total distance the man walks. Let's say he walks a distance of 20m. In this case, he will hear a minimum in sound intensity 20/4 = 5 times.

To find the distance from the pole at these moments, we can use the equation for the distance traveled by the man:

d = vt

Where:
d = distance traveled
v = velocity of sound (330m/s in this scenario)
t = time taken

Since we know the distance traveled (20m) and the velocity of sound (330m/s), we can rearrange the equation to find the time taken:

t = d/v = 20/330 = 0.06 seconds

This means that the man will hear a minimum in sound intensity every 0.06 seconds. To find the distance from the pole at these moments, we can use the equation for the distance traveled by the man:

d = vt = 330 x 0.06 = 19.8m

Therefore, the man will hear a minimum in sound intensity 5