Physics: Difference between revisions

:* A cylindrical-wave source is shaped like a line. To produce cylindrical waves at musical frequencies the source must be high, about six feet (two meters), or higher. Cylindrical waves expand in two dimensions only – out and to the sides but not up or down (assuming the source is oriented vertically, like a flagpole).

:* A source capable of producing plane waves is itself planar, or sheet-like, in shape. To produce plane waves at musical frequencies the plane-wave source must be large, about six feet square (two meters square), or larger. Plane waves travel in only one direction, or dimension: out, but not to the sides or up and down.

Figure x. A cylindrical-wave source, shaped like a line, or pole, radiates sound in two dimensions: out and to the sides, but not up and down. The resulting radiation pattern is therefore wedge shaped.