Pure vs complex sound

Pure or complex sound

Manon, Noé, Mael

What is a sound ?

Vibrations of the air Sound wave Pure and complex

Addition of two sine waves

Pure vs complex sound

Pure sounds: sine wave Complex sound: made out of multiple pure sounds (harmonics)

Different frequencies

Fundamental frequency: frequency we hear. Only frequency of a pure soundHarmonics (different frequencies and amplitudes) make up the timbre of the sound. Pure sound has none.

Sound spectrum of a flute

Sound spectrum

Shows amplitude of all frequenciesLowest frequency is the fundamentalPure sound only has 1 peak

Experiments with different instruments

Guitar, Flute, Tuning fork