Had to google it – but was impressed with the thought that the sun does a figure of 8 when viewed same time each day – something I’m sure our ancestors discovered before assigning the symbol for infinity in mathematics.
The Sun’s position in the sky changes when looked at during the same time each day from the same location throughout the year. The diagram showing how the Sun changes its position in the sky throughout the year is known as an Analemma. There are two independent factors that affect the change in su... Read more
Looks like it depends on the medium it is travelling in. I guess if there isn’t a medium, then there isn’t a “sound”, though I may be wrong. I found this on stack exchange though…
“In a solid, the phonon frequency is periodic, since phonons are defined by lattice displacements. In this case, the maximum frequency is estimated by twice the inter-atomic distance over the speed of sound. this gives 20,000 Ghz as the limiting phonon frequency, again higher, because the speed of sound in solids can be 2-3 times higher, and (twice) the interatomic spacing is five times smaller than a liquid. So it is safe to put the upper limit of ultrasound in metals at 100,000 Ghz, and then only for small-atom metals. If you look at optical phonon bands, you can get frequencies like this over a wide range of modes.”
Wikipedia has this diagram of the acoustic frequency spectrum:
Is there an upper limit to the frequencies you can transmit through the air? Are they absorbed more and more at higher frequencies,
An answer to a similar question on Quora brings up the question of if an audio frequency is beyond the range of hearing, is it actually classed as a “sound” or something else, such as a simple vibration. Quarks (probably) vibrate, right?
What is the highest sound frequency possible? - Quora
Interesting idea. I was intrigued, so I emailed the well-respected physicist Dr Philip Moriarty about this and although I couldn’t get a definitive yes or no answer to the question (of if there is a highest pitch), he did provide a great link to further reading and a nice insight into what, if anything would limit a very high pitch sound wave travelling in air.
“The question of a highest pitch is really intriguing… The ultimate limitation will be the response time of the medium: how quickly can the molecules/atoms transfer the energy? And that will depend, in a first approximation, on the mean free path of the molecules – i.e. how far they travel, on average, without being scattered by another molecule. And then there’s the question of the attenuation as a function of frequency.”
Nice, and here is the link for a background on early infinitesimals and how they perplexed the learned in Greece… ” Zeno’s dichotomy paradox was the first mathematical concept to consider the relationship between a finite interval and an interval approaching that of an infinitesimal-sized interval.”
Mathematics doesn’t care if things are real or not real, surreal or hyperreal, what matters is, is it a good tool that lets you get closer to truth. Watch this for a simple description on how they can help people solve difficult problems.
This is the video, not sure if they are ‘really’ there in the real world because of Planck length, but what would I know? Looks like in maths, you can have whatever you like – as long as it isn’t illogical. Hmm.
How could we even detect a wavelength shorter than a quark? There may be loads of sounds going on out there, well, in here, that we can’t measure. From this on wiki, pitch may be boundless, both ways.
The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum spans many types of radiation, from gamma rays and X-rays through ultraviolet, visible, and infrared “light” and on through longer radio waves.
Had to google it – but was impressed with the thought that the sun does a figure of 8 when viewed same time each day – something I’m sure our ancestors discovered before assigning the symbol for infinity in mathematics.
Me too – bless the Sun (God) for describing our symbol for “forever” right in front of our mortal eyes.
Hmm, non-mathematicians should be careful how they use infinity. Good read about the history of the original theory here though.
Even Redditers missed that he got infinity mixed up with a million. Good idea though, makes you think.
Looks like it depends on the medium it is travelling in. I guess if there isn’t a medium, then there isn’t a “sound”, though I may be wrong. I found this on stack exchange though…
“In a solid, the phonon frequency is periodic, since phonons are defined by lattice displacements. In this case, the maximum frequency is estimated by twice the inter-atomic distance over the speed of sound. this gives 20,000 Ghz as the limiting phonon frequency, again higher, because the speed of sound in solids can be 2-3 times higher, and (twice) the interatomic spacing is five times smaller than a liquid. So it is safe to put the upper limit of ultrasound in metals at 100,000 Ghz, and then only for small-atom metals. If you look at optical phonon bands, you can get frequencies like this over a wide range of modes.”
An answer to a similar question on Quora brings up the question of if an audio frequency is beyond the range of hearing, is it actually classed as a “sound” or something else, such as a simple vibration. Quarks (probably) vibrate, right?
Interesting idea. I was intrigued, so I emailed the well-respected physicist Dr Philip Moriarty about this and although I couldn’t get a definitive yes or no answer to the question (of if there is a highest pitch), he did provide a great link to further reading and a nice insight into what, if anything would limit a very high pitch sound wave travelling in air.
“The question of a highest pitch is really intriguing… The ultimate limitation will be the response time of the medium: how quickly can the molecules/atoms transfer the energy? And that will depend, in a first approximation, on the mean free path of the molecules – i.e. how far they travel, on average, without being scattered by another molecule. And then there’s the question of the attenuation as a function of frequency.”
Nice, and here is the link for a background on early infinitesimals and how they perplexed the learned in Greece… ” Zeno’s dichotomy paradox was the first mathematical concept to consider the relationship between a finite interval and an interval approaching that of an infinitesimal-sized interval.”
More mind-bending miracles with the monad from Numberphile. These guys do all the stuff maths at school didn’t do, and should have.
Mathematics doesn’t care if things are real or not real, surreal or hyperreal, what matters is, is it a good tool that lets you get closer to truth. Watch this for a simple description on how they can help people solve difficult problems.
This is the video, not sure if they are ‘really’ there in the real world because of Planck length, but what would I know? Looks like in maths, you can have whatever you like – as long as it isn’t illogical. Hmm.
How could we even detect a wavelength shorter than a quark? There may be loads of sounds going on out there, well, in here, that we can’t measure. From this on wiki, pitch may be boundless, both ways.
Can’t even find out if there is an upper limit for light nevermind sound.
So is there a highest pitch or frequency? No clues here but a good video anyways.