Description

Simple Interference Experiment is intendedforstudents going through a physics course, or people interestedinsimple demonstrations in physics. This app allows generating uptofour different sine wave sounds of a definite, unknownfrequency.They can be played one at a time or simultaneously. Whenany two ofthe four available sounds are played at the same timebeats emerge,indicating that all frequencies are relatively closeto eachother.
Outside a physics lab, this app could be used in conjunction withasound frequency generator app installed in a second device inorderto find out the four unknown frequencies. Playing a singlesoundsimultaneously on each device and carefully changing thesound'sfrequency knob in the second device led to beats whenbothfrequencies get close enough. Further adjustments in thedirectionof a decreasing beats frequency will eventually makebeatsdisappear. At this point, the frequency in both devices isthesame.
At the physics lab, in addition to the previous exercise, afasterdetermination of the unknown frequencies can be performedwith theaid of a microphone and the appropriate hardware andsoftwareprovided by Vernier, PASCO or others. In the particularcase ofVernier, the experiment 32 "Sound waves and Beats" from thebookPhysics withVernier,(http://www.vernier.com/experiments/pwv/32/sound_waves_and_beats/)couldbe revisited by using this app as the source of sounds.