Abstract
THE phenomenon mentioned by W. G. M. of notes higher in pitch than the sound producing them being reflected from railings, is not at all uncommon, and is very easy of explanation. Suppose a person standing close to a line of upright bars, the distance between the bars being. a. If he now makes any sharp sound, so as to propagate a single wave, this wave will be successively reflected by each of the bars; so that, in answer to the single wave he propagates, he will have an echo of the pitch corresponding to V/2a vibrations per second (V being the velocity of sound). If, however, he stands at any distance, say κ, from the row of bars, he ought to get a slightly descending echo, as then each wave succeeds the last at a distance increased by twice the difference between and , where n is the number of the bar measured from opposite the observer.
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MALLOCK, A. Harmonic Echoes. Nature 9, 6 (1873). https://doi.org/10.1038/009006c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/009006c0
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