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Re: perception of circling horn (was: Doppler Effect Question)



----- Original Message -----
From: "John Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 7:38 AM
Subject: Re: perception of circling horn (was: Doppler Effect Question)


1) In general, human brains etc. are pretty good at localizing sound. Not
as good as owl brains, but not totally incompetent.
3) In addition to the phase variations, there will also be volume
variations, because of the directional properties of the pinnae et
cetera.

Thanx for your comments, John. I thought we localized sound only through the
slight differences in time of arrival and intensity at the two pinnae. Do we
know the weighting our brains place on phase differences?

2) If the horn has a fundamental frequency of 350 Hz, it most likely will
have significant energy in the 3rd and 5th harmonics,
making the phase-detection job easier.

Good point. Most car horns also emit two fundamentals. I don't think they're
an octave apart; maybe a fifth? I wonder if the more expensive cars have
horns with more consonance than cheaper ones.

Paul