Frequency comparison! What do sound frequencies look like in real life? And how do frequencies compare to humans?
This will be interesting, so hear me out.
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What are sound frequencies?
Did you know that sound has a length? The higher the sound, the shorter it gets and vice versa. This is called “frequency”.
Unless you are a dolphin, we humans can hear frequencies somewhere from 20 to 20,000 Hertz (Hz), which means 20 to 20,000 air vibrations per second.
What is ultrasound and infrasound?
Anything below that is called “infrasound”. We use infrasound to monitor earthquakes and volcanoes. Anything above 20,000 Hz is called “ultrasound”. Among many things we use ultrasound for navigation and medical imaging.
But how exactly do we know how long each frequency is?
What is wavelength in sound?
Simple! In air, sound travels at 340 meters per second, more than 3 football fields. This means that a 1-Hz sound has a length of 340 meters. After all, it precisely vibrates once a second. This way, a 2-Hz sound is 170 meters long. It vibrates twice a second. And so forth.
How to measure wavelength of sound?
So, to get the exact length of a sound, just divide 340 by the frequency. For example, if the frequency is 20 Hz, divide 340 by 20 to get 17 meters: 340 ÷ 20 Hz = 17 meters.
This puts most frequencies in the size range of real-life objects.
Frequency comparison: What do frequencies look like?
Lower sounds correspond to large objects, like houses, elephants, or beds. Higher sounds are the opposite. They match small objects, such as credit cards, earrings, or pencils.
Just check out this eye-opening frequency comparison video, and leave a comment with the frequency that belongs to your height. My height is 188 Hz.