Beats

Interference in time of waves with slightly

different frequencies
D1(0, t ) = sin(10π t ) D2 (0, t ) = sin(12π t )

D(0, t ) sin(10π t ) + sin(12π t )

=
 When two sound waves of slightly different frequencies combine at
a point in space (e.g. your ears) they periodically match up such that their
crests (or troughs) coincide. At those instants the resultant amplitude is
maximum and a maximum in sound level is heard.

 As the waves begin to go out of phase the amplitude of the resultant

wave and hence the sound level begins to decrease. At the instant when
the crest of one wave overlaps with the trough of the other the sound
level is minimum.

 This periodic variation of sound level when two waves of slightly

different frequencies interfere is called beats. The number of times the
sound level becomes maximum in one second is called the beat
frequency

 The beat frequency is equal to the difference of the two frequencies.

D1 (0, t ) = A sin(2π f1t ) D2 (0, t ) = A sin(2π f 2 t )
D(0, t ) A sin(2π f1t ) + A sin(2π f 2t )
  f1 − f 2    f1 + f 2 
= 2A cos  2π   t  × sin  2π t
  2    2 
cos(2π t ) cos(2π × 2t )

cos(2π × 3t )
 Beat frequency = f beat = f1 − f 2

f1 + f 2
Frequency that you hear =
2
 Beat frequency is the number of times one hears
maximum sound level in one second.

=
Example: f1 250
= Hz f 2 256 Hz

f beat = 6 Hz
Frequency that you hear = 253 Hz
 The maximum number of beats per second that human
ears can easily distinguish is 10
 When the beat frequency exceeds this value, ears
cannot distinguish the variation in the sound level as the
two waves periodically go in and out of phase.

Applications

 Police Radar
 Doppler Pulse Detection
 Multiphonics
Doppler Pulse Detection
The pulse of a premature infant may be very difficult to detect with
a stethoscope since the sound produced is extremely faint. A
sensitive Doppler pulse probe can be used to detect the movement
of the blood through an artery. The ultrasonic echo from moving
blood can be mixed with the source frequency to produce a beat
frequency. As the blood surges with the pumping action of the
heart, the beat frequency signal changes in frequency and
amplitude
Q1

Two tuning forks of frequencies 500 Hz and 508 Hz are

struck so that they simultaneously produce sound waves.
You is the beat frequency that you will hear

A. 4 Hz
B. 8 Hz
C. 504 Hz
D. 1008 Hz
E. No beats at all
Q2
Two sources are simultaneously producing sounds of
wavelengths 3.4 m and 3.2 m. What is the beat frequency
that you will hear (take the speed of sound to be 340 m/s)

A. 2.0 Hz
B. 3.0 Hz
C. 4.0 Hz
D. 5.0 Hz
E. 6.0 Hz
 Q3
A violinist is tuning the A (440 Hz) string on her violin by
listening for beats when this note is played simultaneously
with a tuning fork of frequency 440 Hz. She hears 4 beats
per second. She notices that, when she increases the
tension in the string slightly, the beat frequency decreases.
What was the frequency of the mistuned string?

A. 436 Hz
B. 438 Hz
C. 400 Hz
D. 442 Hz
E. 444 Hz