Sound becomes weaker ingoing around the head to reach the other ear. This slight difference in sound intensity is sufficient to determine where the sound comes from.
Added by Brian P.
Step 1
Let's think step by step. Show more…
Show all steps
Your feedback will help us improve your experience
Ajay Singhal and 63 other Physics 101 Mechanics educators are ready to help you.
Ask a new question
Labs
Want to see this concept in action?
Explore this concept interactively to see how it behaves as you change inputs.
Key Concepts
Recommended Videos
You determine the direction from which a sound is coming by subconsciously judging the difference in time it takes to reach the right and left ears. Sound directly in front (or back) of you arrives at both ears at the same time; sound from your left arrives at your left ear before your right ear. What happens to this ability to determine the location of a sound if you are underwater? Will sounds appear to be located more in front or more to the side of where they actually are?
Two speakers at a distance of about 1 meter emit pure tones of the same frequency and loudness. When a listener passes in front of them, in a path parallel to the line that joins them, he hears that the sound alternates from strong to weak. What is happening?
Sikandar B.
One cue your hearing system uses to localize a sound ( $1 . e,$ to tell where a sound is coming from) is the slight difference in the arrival times of the sound at your ears. Your ears are spaced approximately $20 \mathrm{cm}$ apart. Consider a sound source $5.0 \mathrm{m}$ from the center of your head along a line $45^{\circ}$ to your right. What is the difference in arrival times? Give your answer in microseconds. Hint: You are looking for the difference between two numbers that are nearly the same. What does this near equality imply about the necessary precision during intermediate stages of the calculation?
Recommended Textbooks
University Physics with Modern Physics
Physics: Principles with Applications
Fundamentals of Physics
Transcript
18,000,000+
Students on Numerade
Trusted by students at 8,000+ universities
Watch the video solution with this free unlock.
EMAIL
PASSWORD