Quote:
Originally Posted by Conan
I think I need to brush up on my physics 
What does that mean/what do you mean by it? |
(most usually) sinusoidal vibrations of the local atmosphere based on minute pressure gradients, produced by (most usually) some mechanical shock. physically, "sound" is energy losses to the atmosphere which can't be attributed to deformation or friction.
compressions/rarefactions themselves are incremental changes in the local atmospheric pressure. take an explosion, for example. the "shock wave" you feel/hear is actually a finite increase in local pressure over your eardrums. but when represented as some continuous frequency (or pitch) they manifest as a certain sound that we can distinguish in the range of 20 - 20 000 Hz.