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ACOUSTICS
A vibrating body A communicatea vibrations
to an elastic body B in contact with it, by
acting on it with a force that varies periodically.
If A vibrates harmonically the forces will be
harmonic, and if B obeys Hooke's Law, its
vibrations will also be harmonic. If B does
not obey Hooke's Law its vibrations will not
be harmonic though they will be periodic, and
will have the same period as the vibrations of
A. Now small changes of volume of air are
approximately proportional to the changes of
pressure that cause them, and hence a harmonic-
ally vibrating body will set up approximately
harmonic vibrations in the air if the vibrations
are small. When, however, the periodic forces
acting on air are large this is no longer the case.
The condensation is no longer proportional to
the increase of pressure above the normal, and
therefore a body that is itself vibrating har-
monically may cause vibrations in the air that
are not harmonic. The vibrations wiU be
periodic, and therefore can be expressed as the
sum of a series of harmonic constituents, the
overtones being more conspicuous the greater
the amplitude of the vibrations. Thus we have
the result that when a body that executes nearly
simple harmonic vibrations communicates its
vibrations to the air, the sound produced may
be a complex note when it is very loud, and
will gradually alter in quality as it dies away,
becoming more and more nearly > pure tone.
Harmonics formed in this way are very faint
unless the vibrations are amplified by confining
the vibrating air in a small cavity. If a
strongly vibrating fork is held over the mouth
of a bottle, the octave may sometimes be heard.
When two trains of simple harmonic waves
of different periods reach such a restricted
cavity simultaneously the amplitude of vibra-
tion of the two, when combined, may be
sufficient to exceed the limits within which
force is proportional to displacement. Helm-
holtz has shown that in such circumstances
there are formed Combination Tones, the most
important of which is one whose frequency is
the difference of the frequencies of the two
original tones, and is called the First Difference
Tone. There is formed also a Summation tone
whose frequency is the sum of the frequencies
of the original tones. The difference and
summation tones being real tones can form
further difference and summation tones with
each other and with the original notes, and
hence a large number of such combination tones
are theoretically possible. The drum of the
ear does not obey Hooke's Law. In the normal
state it is stretched inwards a little, and an
increase of pressure in the air near it gives a
smaller displacement than an equal diminution
of pressure gives in the opposite direction.
Consequently two trains of harmonic waves
that are not of suflScient amplitude to give
combination tones in the air may do so when
ACOUSTICS 35
they reach the ear, and it is probable that most
of the combination tones heard are thus formed
in the ear. If they exist outside the ear they
will be strengthened by a resonator ;if they are
produced by the ear a resonator will have no
effect on their loudness. The first difference
tone is heard very plainly when two notes are
sounded together on a harmonium. Here the
tone has a real existence outside the ear, as is
proved by its being markedly strengthened by
a resonator tuned to it. The tone is probably
produced in the wind chest where the air is
confined to a limited space, and so vibrates with
great amplitude. Two whistles blown together
give •> very unpleasantly loud difference tone.
It is easy to find the pitch of the difference
tone produced by two given notes as follows
Write down the series of harmonic overtones on
any note, say C, and number them 1, 2, 3, etc.,
from below upwards. These numbers will be
proportional to the frequencies of the various
notes. Now pick out two notes of the series
that give the interval under consideration
subtract the number opposite the lower from
that opposite the higher, and the difference
will be found opposite the first difference tone
of the two notes. Suppose, for instance, we
want the difference tone of a major sixth. The
third and fifth tones of the series, viz. G and E,
make this interval with each other. Their
difference tone is found opposite 5 — 3 or 2, and
hence is a fifth below the lower of the two notes
forming a sixth. It must be remembered that
on all musical instruments at the present day
the method of tuning by equal temperament is
employed, so that the Vibration ratio for a sixth
is not exactly 5 :3, and therefore the difference
tone is not exactly a fifth below the lower.
The harmonic series can be used in a similar
way for finding summation tones or difference
tones of higher order than the first. Thus, for
instance, the summation tone of notes 2 and 3,
a fifth apart, is 6, which is a major sixth above
the higher. It Will be seen that the first differ-
ence tone has a frequency equal to that of the
beats produced by the two tones that give rise
to it, and it was long thought that it arose
simply from the beats being so rapid as to give
the sensation of a definite note. This view is
inconsistent with Ohm's Law, for two harmonic
vibrations when compounded cannot, on analysis
by Fourier's Method, yield anything more than
was put into the compound vibration, and in
particular cannot yield a harmonic vibration of
the period of the beats. Consequently, as
every constituent of a complex tone corresponds
to a harmonic vibration, there cannot be in the
resultant note any tone with the frequency of
the beats, unless the circumstances are altered
by some such defect of elasticity as has been
mentioned above.
If two pure tones sounded together have
nearly the same pitch, their beats will be slow.