Coffee Talk: The Physics of Music – Without the Equations

Dr. Elmer Lewis: “The Physics of Music—Without the Equations”

Have you ever wondered why lower pitched instruments are larger than higher pitched ones? Why are 10 violins not twice as loud as five? And why do several sound different – not just louder – than one? Why does a horn sound different – not just louder – than a violin? Why does it matter in which key music is written? That is a tough question because there are many interacting reasons.

In this talk, we will attempt to answer these questions and others using simple graphs and pictures. We will examine the nature of sound waves. We will consider how they form on strings and in tubes of musical instruments, before propagating to where they are processed by the human ear. We will explore how a sound wave’s amplitude, wavelength, and harmonics determine an instrument’s volume, pitch, and timbre. If time permits, we will pay homage to some great physicist-musicians: Pythagoras, Galileo, and Einstein.